Thursday, 20 May 2021 | Team Viva
In these unprecedented times, there are some people out there who are putting their privilege to good use. Team Viva looks at some good Samaritan stories from Bollywood
Amid the surge in cases during the second wave of the novel Coronavirus, the country has been shaken to its core. The limitations of our nation’s healthcare sector have been thoroughly exposed over the past one year. In these uncertain times, many names from the Bollywood fraternity have stepped up in varying aspects. While there have been many questions raised with respect to the nature of their philanthropy, it has to be said that they are, at least, making a difference. Listed below are a handful of such people:
Sonu Sood
Any such list deserves Sonu Sood right at the top as he has turned into a real-life hero with his unconditional service to fellow citizens. The actor has been at the forefront ever since the first nationwide lockdown, helping stranded migrant workers and students in reaching home, arranging for medical resources like oxygen cylinders, beds and medicines.
Earlier this month, Sonu was seen in an episode of the third season of the reality dance show Dance Deewane, where he received a warm welcome and several contestants paid tribute to him. Uday Singh, a resident of a small town Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh, performed a special act saluting Sonu’s contribution towards daily wagers and COVID-19 affected people. While thanking him for his efforts, Uday shared how his entire village survives on daily wages, and with the lockdown in place, they have been left without any earning.
Moved by his story, Sonu immediately told Uday that for the entire period of the lockdown, he will feed the entire village. He further assured the contestant that regular ration would be provided to everyone, however, long the lockdown continues.
Stories like this help preserve one’s faith in humanity.
Anushka Sharma
Anushka Sharma, along with husband and cricketer Virat Kohli, donated `2 crores to a week-long fundraiser they kickstarted on May 7, 2020. Last week, the power couple took to social media to release a statement saying that their fundraiser on Ketto to generate funds for COVID-19 relief in India had surpassed expectation by raising over `11 crore and the funds will go to ACT Grants, a COVID-19 relief organisation.
Last year the duo had donated to the PM CARES fund as well as the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (Maharastra). While they refrained from revealing the details, it was reported that the couple donated `3 crores to the PM CARES fund.
Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn and producer Anand Pandit
Their camaraderie and long working association is well-known in and outside industry circles. Now, veteran producer Anand Pandit and Amitabh Bachchan have joined hands to extend urgent COVID-19 care to Mumbaikars with a fully equipped 25-bed facility in Juhu.
Pandit, who also helped set up a similar facility in the neighbourhood of Dadar, stated, “A 25-bed oxygen facility has been set up at the Ritambhara Vishva Vidyapeeth in Juhu. After a trial run, the centre was up and running by 10 am on Tuesday, May 18. Amitabh ji donated the equipment and infrastructure for the facility and all necessary permissions have been granted by the BMC.”
Pandit, who helped scores of daily wage workers in the industry during the lockdown last year, also recently synergised with Ajay Devgn to establish a 20-bed ICU facility for COVID-19 patients at Shivaji Park and is working and scouting locations to set up another one in Borivali.
He further expressed, “The industry must come together at this time to help as many people as possible. We are facing an economic, humanitarian and social crisis at a scale that would have been unimaginable even last year. And those who can, must do everything to change the bleak narrative around the pandemic to one that gives hope.”
Diana Penty
For many battling COVID-19 in India today, the treatment and hospitalisation is a huge financial burden which many of them are unable to fulfil. With no help on the horizon, many are turning to crowdfunding to help ease the burden.
With #EveryLifeMatters, an initiative in association with Ketto India, Diana Penty aims to raise awareness and help provide relief and financial support to those who need help in these testing times.
Through this initiative, Diana will use her social media to highlight individuals in dire need of financial support for medical treatment and also support the many good Samaritans across the country, who’ve stepped up in the time of major crisis to help those in need. Many of them don’t have the platforms to have their fundraisers amplified enough to make an impact, and this initiative will help them do just that.
Using her fan base and networks, Diana plans to help amplify the work of these individuals/organisations and help as many people as possible in the process.
Known for her humanitarian work, Diana was also at the helm of The Khaki Project last year, providing Mumbai’s police force with much-needed supplies such as masks, sanitisers etc.
Salman Khan
Last month, videos surfaced of the actor sampling food before they were packed and sent out to frontline workers.
A member of Shiv Sena’s youth wing, the political party co-ordinating relief work with the actor, shared that Salman Khan came to check the quality of food that was sent out.
“Salman bhai has immense respect for frontline workers. His mother even sends handmade tiffin for the police personnel that have been stationed outside his house on security duty. He thought since the lockdown is going on and these workers are on duty 24/7, we should start sending food packets and try to make it easier for them,” the Shiv Sena worker said.
Last year, Salman rallied his Bollywood friends to help send care packages to migrant workers stranded during the nationwide lockdown.
Sushmita Sen
When Sushmita Sen came across an online appeal for help when the CEO of Shanti Mukand hospital in Delhi broke down while admitting that his hospital barely had any oxygen left, she chose to act right away. The actor procured as many oxygen cylinders as she could and tweeted for assistance in transporting them from Mumbai to Delhi. Later on, she shared the news that a ‘Twitter friend’ had assisted her in getting the cylinders to the hospital the very next morning.
Anupam Kher
Anupam Kher Foundation in collaboration with Dr Ashutosh Tewari (Global Cancer Foundation, USA) and Baba Kalyani, (Bharat Forge, India), recently started an initiative called Project Heal India.
Last weekend, Project Heal India donated several oxygen concentrators and Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure (BiPAP) machines to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Maharashtra, for relief work during the health crisis. It has initiated various donations to different medical institutions of the country under its first leg of operations. It aims at providing critical lifesaving equipment and other life-supporting devices to medical institutions and hospitals across India.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas
She has been actively using her social media to share COVID-19 resources since the second wave began. On Friday, she and husband Nick Jonas launched a fundraiser, a partnership between the Priyanka Chopra Jonas Foundation and Give India.
Earlier this week, Priyanka stated that through the fundraiser, they have obtained over $3 million. She further revealed that with the fund collected so far they were able to procure 500 oxygen concentrators, 422 oxygen cylinders and even manpower for 10 vaccination centres that’ll help over 6,000 people to get vaccinated over the next two months.
Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna
Akshay Kumar recently donated `1 crore to former Indian cricketer, now politician, Gautam Gambhir’s foundation, which is helping distribute free food, medicines and much-needed oxygen to the needy. Akshay, who has just recovered from COVID-19 after being hospitalised, had donated `25 crore for PM CARES Fund last year.
His spouse, Twinkle Khanna, has been actively using her Twitter account to share relevant updates in the fight against the pandemic. Earlier this month, she tweeted that the couple successfully secured 100 oxygen generators for those in need, in association with Daivik Foundation.
