Will R.K. glam-heroine Mandakini ultimately ‘contest’ elections as a candidate ?

Iconic R.K. banner sensational discovery Mandakini (of ‘Ram Teri Ganga Maili’ fame and over 36 other movies) who quit Bollywood in the mid-90’s to settle into matrimony followed by motherhood, has resurfaced again in the media with a bang- Chaitanya Padukone

No, the ‘dare-bare’ glam-girl of the ‘80s, is not staging a filmy-comeback, but is making trending-news, even as she is canvassing for a political candidate.

The light-eyed charming actress-danseuse Mandakini ( real name Yasmin Joseph) now in her mid-50s, has been getting amazing, rousing responses from (thrilled ) live audiences since past few days .

She has been actively campaigning in West Bengal for Janata Dal candidate Amit Kumar Ghosh who is contesting from Howrah.

Seeing Mandakini’s active involvement in social welfare and political activity, it shouldn’t come as a surprise if in future she gets a ‘ticket’ to contest as a ‘candidate’ from a prominent political party ( just like former Bolly-actress Urmila Matondkar).

It may be recalled that the home-loving, spiritually-inclined Mandakini married a former suave Buddhist monk, Dr. Kagyur T. Rinpoche Thakur.

They have a son named Rabbil and a daughter Rabze Innaya . She runs classes in Tibetan yoga and is a staunch follower of the Dalai Lama.

With her husband, she runs a centre for Tibetan medicine, which is commonly known as the Tibetan Herbal Centre in the area.

Not many are aware, that Mandakini during 1990-91, has also acted in two Bengali movies one with co-star Mithun Chakraborty and the other with co-star Tapas Paul.

As a film-journalist-columnist, I had the opportunity to meet and interview Mandakini on the sets (and success-parties) of Raj Kapoor’s ‘Ram Teri Ganga Maili’ and several other movies ( like ‘Dance Dance’ and ‘Commando’ ) made by yet another sensational musical-hits film-maker B.Subhash .

A soft-spoken intelligent sensitive girl, Mandakini has a witty sense of humour and is quite frank by nature.

Interestingly, legendary heroines from the R.K. camp Vyjayanthimala was ‘elected’ as an M.P. (1985), while ‘late’ Nargis Dutt was appointed a Rajya Sabha M.P. (1980-81) .