Modi is the man of the moment
A chaiwala who became PM, Narendra Modi continues to inspire India’s youth. Their love affair with Salman Khan endures, even as their hearts skip beats for Deepika, Ranbir and Virat
The stardom Narendra Modi and Salman Khan enjoy refuses to fade away as they top the charts as the living role model of the young and Bollywood’s biggest icon, respectively in the Hindustan Times Youth Survey 2017. Modi has also been chosen the biggest political icon.
BOLLYWOOD ICON
In a country where stars are almost worshipped like gods, it’s no surprise when Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan take the top four spots in the survey with 18.3%, 15.3%, 13.3% and 13.2%, respectively. Clearly, people like to stick to conventional choices, even if all of them happen to be plus-50 actors.
Surprisingly, though , Kangana Ranaut and Vidya Balan — who featured in the list some years ago — now seem to have dropped out.
In what indicates that youth prefer the ‘star’ value over acting, Nawazuddin Siddiqui or Irrfan are the other surprise omissions . “Nawaz is someone who is an icon in his own rights. He has done some hatke films and I’m so impressed that despite not being the conventional good looking hero, he can give any leading actor a run for his money,” says 23-year-old Shagufta Ali, a master’s student.
LIVING ROLE MODEL FOR THE YOUNG
Prime Minster Narendra Modi retains the highest-rated living role model position for the fifth year in a row, indicating preference among the youth for influence, power, money and mass appeal. No longer looking for a short cut to make it big, youngsters are keen to explore success stories that are gripping. In comparison, former US president Barak Obama, who also featured in the survey results for three consecutive years, is no longer in the picture. Replacing him are Bill Gates (25.6%), Sundar Pichai (11.10%) and Malala Yousafzai (6.8%) who take up the three spots after Modi.
SEXIEST MAN ALIVE
Sex appeal is a heady mix of appearance and popularity. While Salman Khan defines the term sexy for most of the youth — he has topped four surveys — the last two years have put Ranbir Kapoor as the sexiest man alive, going strong with 32.7% this year. Ranveer follows with 21.6% and Justin Bieber with 9.2%. Surprised by Hrithik Roshan, John Abraham, Ryan Gosling or Tom Cruise not making it to the list, Mrinal Madan, 24, an MA second year student, says, “I think Hrithik Roshan is hot and sexy. He’s got a great body, sex appeal plus he’s so good looking despite being a father to two sons.” Even Prabhas’s name is in the running. “I loved him in the film [Baahubali],” says Tripti Babbar, 22, a postgraduate student.
SEXIEST WOMAN ALIVE
Her Hollywood stint might have worked wonders for Deepika Padukone, who outpaced five-time favourite Katrina Kaif second year in a row as the sexiest woman alive. With nearly one-third of the youth voting for Padukone this year — same as last year — she successfully left behind international actors. “Deepika is just so hot. The way she acts on screen and carries herself is perfect,” says Ali. While Priyanka Chopra takes the second position at 22.9%, Alia Bhatt hits the third spot with 22.1%.
SPORTS ICON
Virat Kohli emerged as the top sports icon, dethroning MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar who held the spot for three years in a row each. About 29.7% of the youth felt Kohli was the biggest icon when it came to sports, followed by Roger Federer (13.9%) and PV Sindhu (10.5%). “After Dhoni, it is only Kohli, who has that quality to lead a team and keep everyone united. He is young, full of ideas and someone, who knows how to balance things,” says Madan.
BIGGEST ICON IN INDIAN POLITICS
Overlooking the flaws that Indian political system broadly suffers from, India’s youth unanimously chose prime minister Narendra Modi again as their political icon with a dominating percentage of 47.5%. Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi feature in the results with 8.9% and 8.7%.