New Delhi: The three Khans of Bollywood have gone three different ways – Shah Rukh Khan is seen as a Rahul Gandhi backer, Aamir Khan is for Aam Aadmi Party and now Salman Khan is pulling strings for Narendra Modi in public gaze. None of them have made any official endorsements but all three have been strategically indulging in gesture-based politics aimed at their audiences and fans.

King Khan is known to be an ardent admirer of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and pally with the party’s vice president and probable prime ministerial candidate Rahul Gandhi. Shah Rukh once landed up at 10, Janpath to invite the Congress president to a special screening of his movie ‘Main Hoon Na’. Later, in a TV interview in 2006, he made no bones about his idolizing Sonia Gandhi. “There is an image of her that I would like to repeat again and again- on the bus, on an election rally and with children- which is a strong emotion to me as I am attached to the figure of a mother. For me, she is a strong lady, someone you can admire,” he said. But he was quick to add that his adulation for Sonia was completely apolitical.

In 2008, Rahul with his sister Priyanka and brother-in-law Robert Vadra joined Shah Rukh (whose popular screen-name incidentally is Rahul) and his wife, Gauri at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. They were seen sitting next to each other and cheering for Kolkata Knight Riders, the team owned by the actor, during the IPL match against Team Hyderabad. Also, in the Gandhi family, Priyanka is known as a King Khan groupie.

Shah Rukh is followed by over 6.4 million people on Twitter. Salman Khan has over 5.9 Twitter fans and Aamir Khan is followed by over 5.5 million people. However, among the three, according to Bollywood experts, Salman Khan remains the most popular actor among people without access to internet.

Politically conscious and sensitive actor Aamir Khan, who made a grand gesture by genuflecting before Anna Hazare at the Jan Lokpal bill fast in New Delhi two years ago, repeatedly said he was not in support of any individual or party. Even last week, in a TV interview, when he was commending AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal for Delhi elections, he was cautious. “We had lost hope in political thinking and suddenly we have got this tidal wave that promises to be revolutionary. I am glad more and more people want to be part of that wave,” he said adding a disclaimer that as a public personality he would not endorse it until the party delivered.

The Dabangg Khan who has a massive following among Muslims, the under-privileged, the underdog, the righteous and youth in the country on Tuesday resorted to the same gesture-based politics. Salman Khan stood next to the controversial and polarizing “good man” and sang paeans to him but chose not to call it an official endorsement. But surely the meaning of kite flying with Narendra Modi by a super-star who is generally seen as aloof and media-unfriendly is not lost on anyone.