In a 2011 poll by Shaadi.com, the good people of Mumbai had chosen Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as the most eligible bachelor of the time. Now, we're not sure what a survey in 2021 would reveal, but when a picture of Gandhi purportedly holding Hollywood actor Dakota Johnson in his arms surfaced, many were left bewildered.
To be clear, the confusion was only about the fact that he had a "girlfriend" that they did not know about. After all, it is only a small leap of imagination from 'most eligible' to being the star of the Fifty Shades of Grey films. Indeed, as a quick perusal of the comments section reveal, many had had to take a second look to make sure that this was not a picture of Gandhi, morphed or otherwise.
In 2015, EL James' erotic romance novels were adapted into three films featuring Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson. While it may not be everybody's cup of tea, the movies have remained popular and a talking point till date, apparently with some now casting Rahul Gandhi as Christian Grey.
Recently, after an image of the two main characters (a perfectly appropriate image, we assure you) cropped up on Twitter, many were quick to realise Gandhi's resemblance to Dornan. "I showed this to mom and she asked Rahul Gandhi ki girlfriend kab ban gayi," lamented one Twitter user in response to the original post.
She was not alone, and as the post gained traction, many others were startled to realise the similarity of their countenances. "I've been crying laughing at this for like 5 minutes now," remarked another.
In case you were wondering, Dornan is an award winning actor, model and musician hailing from Northern Ireland, whose Wikipedia bio describes him as being well known "for playing psychopathic characters". He has been a part of several well known television shows and most recently was a part of the film 'Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar' in February this year.
Comparisons between Gandhi and Dornan are not new, with many having pointed it out over the last few years. And while people are now varying degrees of disturbed and horrified to realise it, they certainly cannot 'un-see' it. Take a look at some of the reactions:
