Mamata Banerjee's Tollywood brigade missing amid TMC's worst crisis

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) is facing its gravest existential crisis since Mamata Banerjee founded the party in 1998. After a crushing defeat to the BJP in the West Bengal Assembly elections, the party is now confronting its first major open rebellion. Yet, even as the TMC reels from one crisis to another, one of its most visible constituencies has gone strangely silent — its star-studded Tollywood Brigade.

For over two decades, celebrities from the worlds of film, television, and sports formed a crucial pillar of the TMC's electoral and public image strategy. As early as 2001, the party fielded veteran actress Madhabi Mukherjee against then Chief Minister and CPI(M) stalwart Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in Jadavpur.

Over the years, Mamata Banerjee's political caravan became increasingly glamorous as she actively patronised actors, directors, singers, and sportspersons, elevating many into MPs and MLAs. Even non-card-carrying supporters like actor-director Parambrata Chatterjee regularly campaigned for the party.

Beyond their vote-pulling power, these celebrities served as the TMC's most visible public face — aggressively defending the leadership and spearheading media campaigns on national television.

Mamata Banerjee was often seen on stage flocked by these stars. Elected legislators bitterly complained, obviously not in public, that the celebrities edged them out on the stage.

Today, however, that once-vaunted Tollywood Brigade has gone dim. In the aftermath of the May 4 electoral rout and in the face of the Ritabrata Banerjee-led mutiny, many of its prominent members have either retreated into an eerie silence or are actively reconsidering their allegiance to the party.

While the actors might be distancing themselves as the TMC is facing public anger over its politics of repression and corruption, the other reason is that they were never moored to the party ideologically. The celebrities stand in stark contrast to the loyal members even in the TMC.

TMC'S TOLLYWOOD BRIGADE: FROM SATABDI ROY AND TAPAS PAL TO DEV AND MIMI CHAKRABORTY

Over the years, the TMC has consistently integrated a dizzying array of high-profile celebrities into its political ranks, particularly drawing from West Bengal's film industry (Tollywood) alongside prominent sports and cultural figures.

Among the most notable screen icons who have joined or contested under the TMC banner are Deepak Adhikari (popularly known as Dev), Mimi Chakraborty, Nusrat Jahan, Rachna Banerjee, Sayantika Banerjee, Saayoni Ghosh, Soham Chakraborty, Hiran Chatterjee, June Malia, Kanchan Mullick, Koushani Mukherjee, and director Raj Chakraborty.

The party has also historically welcomed veterans of the arts like Satabdi Roy, Moon Moon Sen, Sandhya Roy, Indranil Sen, Bidesh Bose, Jogen Chowdhury, and the late Tapas Paul.

Beyond local cinema, the TMC expanded its star-studded roster to include major national personalities like Bollywood singer-turned-politician Babul Supriyo, cricketers like Yusuf Pathan, Kirti Azad and Manoj Tiwari, and diplomat-author Pavan Varma.

Many of them would pull off stunning electoral victories, like Rachana Banerjee, who successfully won her debut Lok Sabha race in Hooghly, defeating sitting BJP MP Locket Chatterjee. Similarly, cricketer Yusuf Pathan pulled off a massive victory in Berhampore by unseating long-time Congress stalwart Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, while Kirti Azad defeated the BJP's Dilip Ghosh from the Bardhaman-Durgapur seat.

SAAYONI GHOSH: FROM ACTOR TO TMC's VOCAL DEFENDER

Many TMC celebrities developed a reputation for being particularly vocal and active. Among them, Saayoni Ghosh stands out as one of the most outspoken. A prominent Bengali actress and singer, she joined the party in 2021 and rose quickly to become President of the Trinamool Youth Congress, succeeding Abhishek Banerjee. Known for her fiery rhetoric, aggressive street campaigning, and strong media presence, Ghosh won the Jadavpur Lok Sabha seat in 2024.

Ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, several TMC-linked celebrities remained active on the campaign trail.

Actor-MP Dev campaigned in Ghatal and several districts in north Bengal, including Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri. Gameshow host and Hooghly MP Rachana Banerjee addressed meetings in Hooghly and other areas such as Pandaveswar.

Saayoni Ghosh, MP from Jadavpur, focused on mobilisation in south Kolkata and surrounding constituencies in the Jadavpur region.

Singer-turned-politician Babul Supriyo participated in party events, mainly in Kolkata and adjacent areas. Other star campaigners also held rallies and public meetings across different districts.

HOW BJP WAVE SWEPT AWAY TMC's TOLLYWOOD BRIGADE

In the aftermath of the TMC's stunning electoral rout on May 4, the party's once-vocal Tollywood brigade has gone conspicuously quiet. The star-studded group of actors, directors, and singers, who had enthusiastically rallied behind Mamata Banerjee in previous elections, has maintained a studied silence as the party grapples with a major political crisis.

The state assembly results delivered a particularly harsh verdict for the TMC's celebrity candidates.

The BJP wave swept away several high-profile cultural icons, including prominent filmmakers and actors such as Raj Chakraborty and Soham Chakraborty. Popular screen and television personalities like Sayantika Banerjee, Lovely Maitra, and Shreya Pande also suffered decisive defeats.

The rout extended beyond celebrities to culturally rooted leaders and veteran faces of the party. Acclaimed singers Indranil Sen and Aditi Munshi, along with prominent representatives Birbaha Hansda and Arpita Ghosh, were among the notable casualties.

CELEBRITIES DISTANCE THEMSELVES AMID TMC SPLIT BUZZ

As the TMC now faces an open rebellion led by former CPM leader Ritabrata Banerjee against the Mamata-Abhishek Banerjee duopoly, the celebrities — many of whom owe their political careers and seats to Mamata's patronage — have chosen to stay away from the controversy.

Even the usually outspoken Saayoni Ghosh has maintained complete silence. The deafening quiet is not limited to the stars alone; several TMC heavyweights, including firebrand MP Mahua Moitra, have also offered little to no comment on the ongoing mutiny.

Some have gone further and begun distancing themselves from the party. On May 5, former cricketer Manoj Tiwari, who lost to BJP's Papia Adhikari, announced his exit from the TMC while launching a scathing attack on outgoing sports minister Aroop Biswas.

"Aroop Da doesn't know A, B, C, D of any sport," Tiwari told PTI. He recounted instances where he was sidelined at sports events despite his contributions, including being excluded from the dais at functions and omitted from invitations after the Durand Cup.

Meanwhile, actor-director Parambrata Chatterjee, who had actively campaigned for TMC candidates despite not being a formal member, later justified his involvement by saying he did it for the sake of his newborn son. An FIR has been filed against Parambrata over his provocative comments on social media amid post-poll violence in 2021.

Actor Dev Adhikari, who had reportedly wanted to leave the party as early as 2024, congratulated the BJP on May 6 for its impressive victory — at the same time when TMC top brass was loudly alleging that the elections were "stolen" and Mamata Banerjee declared she would not step down as Chief Minister.

Celebrities thrive on popular support, and the anger for the TMC over its politics of corruption and repression is visible on the streets of Bengal. That is one reason why they are distancing themselves from the party, which is very unpopular now. The other reason is that the celebrities weren't ideologically bound to the TMC, which itself lacked a clear ideology.

In short, in the wake of the TMC's humiliating electoral rout on May 4, its once-glamorous Tollywood brigade has vanished from the spotlight. The star-studded line-up of actors, directors, and singers, long seen as the party's cultural face and crowd-pullers, has maintained a conspicuous silence as the party battles an internal rebellion and a sharp decline in fortunes. They pushed out the elected representatives as they shared the stage with Mamata Banerjee. And now, Mamata has neither the celebrities nor the MLAs and MPs by her side as she leads protests.