He knows people are interested in seeing him in person and taking selfies, rather than listening to his speech from a political dais. But he is clear in his mind about making it again to Parliament and that's what he is working for for nearly 40 days.
"I know that it's my stardom which is bringing people to rallies. They want to see me. But the larger public knows I'm contesting for parliamentary election. So I'm focused on doing that," Deepak Adhikari aka Dev, Bengal superstar and sitting Trinamool Congress MP from Ghatal constituency in West Midnapore district, told PTI in an interview.
Dev, called the "son of the soil", was re-nominated by TMC chief Mamata Banerjee for the second time from Ghatal and said he expected this.
"Getting a renomination was not a surprise. I knew it was coming. I was ready. And sometimes you cannot put down when someone special (Banerjee) asks you to do something. To be honest I'm quite liking it seeing that our beloved didi has trust in my abilities as a politician," Dev said, sitting at his small make-shift party office room here.
Talking about his experience as a politician, the superstar said it has matured him a lot.
"Politics has helped me grow. To unfurl myself. But the real job is to be in politics for the cause of people, to fight for their cause," he said.
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"These days there is a growing trend among people from different fields, mostly the film world, to get into politics and take advantage of power. There are many in our industry (Tollywood) also. And Bollywood is showing us the path. It's maximum there," he said.
Asked how tough it was to shuttle as an MP and as an actor, Dev said, "Very tough".
"But, I've given my best as an actor in the past five years. My film Amazon did a great business breaking all previous records. I've done very good as a producer also. So I believe it's a golden time for me. The maximum came in the past five years."
"I wanted to give my 100 per cent. I did not see any reason to stay there. I found it was a wastage of time. With people shouting out of their lungs and nobody able to hear what the other person is saying or trying to say I thought it was better to work for people at the ground level."
Talking about his BJP opponent, former IPS officer and Mamata Banerjee's close aide Bharati Ghosh, 36-year-old Dev said, "I know Bharati di for a long time. But I think the manner she is talking to locals, to police officers during her campaign is quite intimidating. Her words were quite derogatory. Her attitude was a blow to the respect I have had for Bharati di. And you can see how desperate she is to win the election. She knows she has to win it, she has so many cases against her pending in courts."