At a glance: Shatrughan Sinha, actor- cum- politician

Shatrughan Sinha is an actor cum politician. He is Member of Parliament from Patna Sahib Constituency.Shatrughan Sinha is quite a popular face in both Bollywood and Indian politics. Be it in the cinema halls or at election rallies, lakhs of fans flock around to watch him. The thespian, known for his excellent sense of humor and dialogue ‘khamosh', is a popular leader especially in the state of Bihar where he is fondly called the ‘Bihari babu'.Shatrughan Sinha is one such leader who is respected by politicians cutting across party lines. He has no enemies. He was elected Rajya Sabha member on two occasions.Shatrughan Sinha was born on July 15, 1946 in Patna to Bhubaneswari Prasad Sinha and Shyama Devi Sinha.Shatrughan Sinha is the youngest amongst four brothers. His eldest brother is Ram, then Lakshman and the one just few years older to him is Bharat.Sinha studied in Patna Science College. He is also an alumni of the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. In his honor, the institute is currently awarding a scholarship in his name to the Diploma students of the Institute. Sinha is an accomplished actor. To pursue his dream in acting he moved to Mumbai. From here he began his journey in the Film industry.Shatrughan Sinha is married to Poonam Sinha - former Miss Young India (1968) . Poonam is also an actress and producer. The two had earlier met in a train compartment while traveling. Poonam decided to give her acting career a break to raise their children.The couple has been blessed with twin sons Luv Sinha and Kush Sinha. Sonakshi is their third daughter and closest to Shatrughan. She is now a veteran actress.Shatrughan began his acting career with Dev Anand's Prem Pujari where he played the role of a Pakistani military officer. Subsequently, he got a small role as a police inspector in Mohan Sehgal's Sajan in 1969. The release of Prem Pujari was delayed, so his first released film was Sajan.He played supporting roles in many films before appearing in Gulzar's Mere Apne in 1971. He was cast along with Poonam Sinha in the movie Sabak (1973).He later appeared in Dulal Guha's Dost in 1974 and in Kalicharan in 1976.Sinha has often been selected as one of the most unconventional actors in Hindi cinema (the others being Ajay Devgan, Amitabh Bachchan, Irfan Khan, Rajnikant, Shahrukh Khan, and Sunil Shetty).Shatrughan Sinha hosted the Bhojpuri version of the popular game show Kaun Banega Crorepati on Mahuaa channel. The original show is hosted by one of his closest friends in B town – Amitabh Bachchan, who too had once joined politics.He portrayed Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao in Ram Gopal Varma's Rakta Charitra.In 2009, Sinha contested the Lok Sabha elections from Patna Sahib Constituency. He defeated Shekhar Suman, another cinema celebrity. Out of a total of 552,293 votes polled, Sinha received 316,472 votes.He was made the cabinet minister and given two portfolios in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government. Sinha was made the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare (Jan 2003-May 2004), and was then given the Shipping department in August 2004.As an actor, Shatrughan Sinha managed to win hearts with ease. Similarly he proved his mettle and became a hero in the world of politics too.Sinha's speeches are a combination of wit and humor, mixed with spice and not to mention his tremendous vocal chords that leave behind a lasting impact. Even the BJP realizes his worth.Sinha has never been rigid about his work profile. Previously when his term as Union Minister lasted for a brief period because the government lead by the BJP lasted only for a term, he turned back to the cinema. He played a police commissioner in Madhur Bhandarkar's 'Aan–Men At Work'. Later on he returned to politics.Then again in Ram Gopal Varma's in 'Rakht Charitra', Shatru played an avatar of the legendary Telugu actor and politician, Dr. N.T.Rama Rao and his performance had come in for unstinted appreciation from the masses and classes alike.In the 14th Lok Sabha Polls, he defeated Congress candidate Kunal Singh, a Bhojpuri actor, by over one lakh votes.Being a ‘Bihari babu' he considers the entire state his constituency.Shatrughan Sinha leads a disciplined life. He practices yoga everyday and is an early riser. Despite hectic schedule, he culls out time to spend with family members.