NEW DELHI: Banking on film stars to attract voters was almost a poll ritual for political parties. But this time around, BJP seems to have just one show-stopper — its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi . In a departure from tradition, BJP state units are not seeking film personalities for rallies; they just want Modi, a party leader involved with campaign strategy told ET.Sociologist Dipankar Gupta says calling celluloid personalities was anyway a backup. “You call them when you are not sure of yourself. Modi pictures himself as a star attraction. Even Rahul Gandhi wouldn’t want them to canvass.” This trend has come as a relief for party organisers since they don’t have to call larger-than-life celluloid personalities for rallies, with Modi playing hero. They admit that in past elections, demand from state units for film stars at rallies was very high as they were undisputed crowd-pullers.A party leader recalls that when a popular star was requested to address a rally, organisers were asked to book half a dozen rooms to accommodate staff and had a tough time tying up loose ends. But with Modi pulling in crowds, things have changed, and organisers have less to worry. At his recent rallies, people have displayed disinterest in listening to other BJP leaders, even as Modi connected with the crowd with ease.Gupta recalls in 1966, when the late Bal Thackeray held Shiv Sena’s inaugural public rally at Shivaji Park, he invited B-grade actors because organisers weren’t sure whether there would be enough people to fill the venue. “But when the meeting began, the response was overwhelming. The stars didn’t even perform. After that, Thackeray never invited film stars,” Gupta said.The run-up to an LS election is usually associated with around 100 rallies by film stars. Among BJP’s star campaigners were Shatrughan Sinha , Hema Malini, Dharmendra Vinod Khanna , Vijay Shanti and Smriti Irani. Hema Malini had a huge demand in northeast states. Cricketerturned-politician Navjot Singh Siddhu has been making appearances at BJP rallies too, but sensing the mood, he keeps his speech short.While this time, the star quotient at rallies may be low, BJP is likely to use tunes of old Bollywood numbers, remixing them for songs on Modi. The party had used Dhanush’s “kolaveri di” tune in assembly polls last year.