Bollywood stars enter Indian cabinet

Vinod Khanna (L) and Shatrughan Sinha (R) after taking their oaths of office

NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Two former Bollywood heartthrobs are to join the line-up in India's federal cabinet following Monday's mid-term shake-up by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Shatrugan Sinha and Vinod Khanna are both veterans of the Indian movie scene having between them starred in well over 100 films.

The two co-starred in the 1971 epic Mere Apne as rival gangsters forced to make peace.

The reshuffle is being seen as a bid by Vajpayee to revive the fortunes of his coalition and in a country where movie stars are as close as you get to living gods he will be hoping some of that popularity will rub off on his government. (Full story.)

Sinha, popularly known as "Shotgun" for his role in several action blockbusters, has been a politician for several years and takes the post of minister for health and family welfare.

Khanna meanwhile has been appointed as minister of state for culture and tourism.

The new arrivals in the Indian cabinet have been welcomed by members of the Indian film industry who hope to raise the profile of cinema in the political arena.

Bollywood -- so called because of the large number of studios located in Mumbai, formerly Bombay -- is one of the world's most prolific producers of films.

At its peak Indian movie studios have averaged more than one new release a day -- the overwhelming majority following the hugely popular all-singing all-dancing, action-romance formula.

In recent years however Bollywood has come under growing financial pressure caused by illegal broadcasts of films by Indian cable operators who flagrantly violate copyright laws.

To date the issue has not been high on the political agenda, but with two ambassadors now at the heart of the Indian government movie execs will be hoping that will now begin to change.