When the COVID-19 scare has almost locked down the entire country, poor migrant workers and economically unprivileged people faced the worst brunt of it. Unable to reach home owing to sealing of inter-state borders, lack of available means of transportation, and inadequacy of food, they are marooned jobless penniless and even in certain cases homeless in different parts of the country. Heart-wrenching imageries of workers walking miles on foot, scrambling over a seat on trains/buses have surfaced in recent times.
Some of the Bollywood celebrities, often worshipped in the country for playing the heroes in ‘reel’, have now taken their ‘real’ avatars for helping the destitute in innumerable ways.
1. Sonu Sood
The actor has been at the forefront in actively promulgating initiatives to ensure the well-being of the stranded migrants amid the pandemic situation. Sonu started by opening his hotel located in Juhu for health workers and distributing food among the downtrodden.
For the month of Ramadan, he arranged iftari, the evening snack at the end of the day’s fasting, for 25,000 migrants in Bhiwandi. Sonu took to social media expressing- “In these difficult times, it is important for each one of us to stand up for the other. Through this initiative, we will provide special meal kits so they don’t stay hungry after fasting all day”.
Sonu has also flagged off his ‘Ghar Bhejo‘ initiative with the support of his friend Neeti Goel to send home the stranded migrants. He started it May 11 onwards and arranged for 21 buses for 750 migrants to reach their home-states Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh from Maharashtra. In fact, he personally came to see them off when the buses were about to depart.
Upon receiving a request, Sonu also took the initiative to get 177 migrant girls from Kerala’s Ernakulam airlifted to Bhubaneswar, Odisha. In the upcoming days, he has been planning to send home more stranded migrants from the state of Maharashtra.
“My day goes by coordinating things like transport for migrant workers, taking government permissions, organizing food among other things. And I feel very happy and satisfied. If I was shooting, I wouldn’t have had all the time in the world. Now, that I have all the time, it is important to give that to the needy”, he said in an interview with Mirror Online.
Apart from these, Sonu has also made it to the headlines in recent times for responding to appeals for help made on social media to him every now and then. For his efforts, Sonu Sood has received lauds from politicians, fellow celebrities and common people alike. Renowned Chef Vikas Khanna even named one of his dishes after Sonu’s hometown Moqa dedicating it to him.
2. Swara Bhaskar
The actor, known for being politically opinionated and vocal, has shown her efforts for helping migrants in Delhi to reach home.
Haling originally from Delhi, Swara in collaboration with a few NGOs have pledged to provide the migrant workers with basic essentials like food and footwear among other things. Swara has been trying to make a combined list of requests she received on Twitter, though she blames the trolls for giving her hard times in doing so.
“Compiling info about which migrant labor is stuck where & needs to go where, making calls to each of them and coordinating with govt. efforts are tiring coz we have to sift through FILTH in my comments section – which I never do! It’s like searching for phone numbers in the garbage!”, she expressed on twitter.
3. Rakul Preet Singh
Actress Rakul Preet Singh along with her family has been preparing home-cooked meals twice a day and sending them over to feed over 200-250 families living in one of the slums located nearby Gurgaon.
“It is very important to understand that many of us are privileged. We have a house, help, food, ability to stack up in case of emergency, but this is when you give it to society. For me, nothing can give me more happiness than the smiles on these people’s faces when they eat their meal. And that will make me extremely happy. So that’s my way of expressing gratitude for everything I have and it is a very small effort. Whoever can make a difference should, because I truly believe in giving back to society”, she says.
4. Shabana Azmi
Shabana Azmi took part in procuring ration, distributing meals, and sanitation materials for close to 10 lakh migrant and daily wage laborers in partnership with a few NGOs across 172 districts of the country.
“Am both proud n thankful dat @ActionAidIndia n partners hve been able 2 reach more than 10 lakh individuals, across 172 districts in 21 states n 1union territory. We hve provided dry rations cooked meals n sanitation products as relief measures. Thank you to all our contributors,” she said in her tweet.
5. Amitabh Bachchan
B-Town’s Big B arranged 10 buses for the commutation of migrant workers from Mumbai to their home-state Uttar Pradesh. On 29 May the buses departed from Mumbai’s Haji Ali Dargah. Previously, Mr. Bachchan had been funding for monthly ration supplies of 1 lakh daily wage workers affiliated under the All India Film Employees Confederation.
6. Tamanna Bhatia
Tamannaah Bhatia, famous for her lead female character in ground-breaking Bahubali, came in collaboration with NGO LetsAllHelp, for obtaining about 50 tonnes of food materials to be distributed among 10,000 people.
She has also been closely working with the migrant workers, stranded in Mumbai slums.
7. Kunal Kapoor
The Rang De Basanti famed actor’s crowdfunding platform Ketto.org collaborated with the Indian Women’s Hockey Team for raising funds for migrant workers. The fundraiser continued for a brief time till May 3 which was enough to raise Rs.5 lakh for feeding a thousand workers.
8. Salman Khan
The Bhaijan of Bollywood has been transferring funds into the accounts of daily wage workers. He also organized ration facilities for close to 25,000 migrant and daily wage workers amid the nation-wide lockdown.
9. Varun Dhawan
Actor Varun Dhawan stepped forward for providing meals to the unemployed, homeless, and health workers in association with Tata Trust.
“I have deep admiration for all those who are risking their lives by working on the frontlines. I’ve committed to providing meals to doctors and medical staff at hospitals. All meals will be provided through the Taj Public Service Welfare Trust. It’s a small step. But during a crisis like this, we have to make every step count. I will continue to do what best I can,” he mentioned on social media.
Apart from the listed few, there are many actors who contributed to several government funds.
- Akshay Kumar pledged his support to Mumbai Police by contributing Rs.2 crore for the Corona-warriors.
- Shah Rukh Khan and Ayesha Takia have offered their four-storied office building and hotel respectively for turning them into a quarantine facility.
- Before demise, actor Irrfan Khan also supported the initiative of Friday fast on April 10 for contributing a day’s ration to the migrant workers in a collective manner.
- The initiative, I Stand With Humanity, started by the Indian Film and TV Industry in collaboration with several organizations for providing families of daily wage workers with essential grocery supplies for 10 days has drawn support from several B-Town celebrities like Karan Johar, Ayushmann Khurrana and Tapsee Pannu.
- Karan Johar and Zoya Akhtar organized I for India, an online fundraising concert, has managed to raise Rs.52 crore for GiveIndia working towards relief efforts during the pandemic.
Bollywood celebrities in the country are not only revered for their on-screen roles but also are emulated for their deeds. These efforts by the actors changing the lives of many should be inspiring a few more to follow their footsteps.
How inspired are you?