Actor Akshay Kumar had pledged Rs 25 crores to the Prime Minister’s fund called PM Cares Fund to help India’s battle against coronavirus.
The actor tweeted: “This is that time when all that matters is the lives of our people. And we need to do anything and everything it takes. I pledge to contribute Rs 25 crores from my savings to @narendramodi ji’s PM-CARES Fund. Let’s save lives, Jaan hai toh jahaan hai.”
Akshay Kumar is one among the first few Bollywood actors to make a contribution for this purpose.
Earlier, BJP MP and actor Hema Malini announced a contribution of Rs 1 crore. Hrithik Roshan said that he had procured N95 and FFP3 masks for the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) workers. Comedian Kapil Sharma donated Rs 50 lakh to the PM’s fund.
Other actors too have contributed to various funds.
In Tollywood, Prabhas has pledged Rs 4 crores, actor and Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief Pawan Kalyan has announced a donation of Rs 2 crore, of which Rs 1 crore will go to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and Rs 50 lakh each will go to the CMRF of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Mahesh Babu has pledged Rs 1 crore, Allu Arjun Rs 1.25 crore, Chiranjeevi Rs 1 crore, Nagarjuna Rs 1 crore and Junior NTR Rs 75 lakh.
Actor Ram Charan also came forward and contributed an amount of Rs 70 lakh to the Centre and the two Telugu states, to curb the spread of COVID-19. Meanwhile, actor Nandamuri Balakrishna announced Rs 50 lakh each to the Telugu states. Director Trivikram and actor Nithin announced Rs 10 lakh each to Telangana and Andhra.
The current lockdown has left daily wage workers who depend on the film industry, in a lurch. Film Employees’ Federation of South India (FEFSI) President RK Selvamani on March 23, estimated that the organisation would need Rs 2 crore to feed the families of 15,000 employees.
Following this, actor Rajinikanth was amongst the first to announce that he will be donating Rs.50 lakh to the relief fund for FEFSI.
Actors Sivakumar, Suriya and Karthi have donated Rs 10 lakh for the fund and those who gave Rs 10 lakh include actors Vijay Sethupathi and Sivakarthikeyan.
Actor Prakash Raj meanwhile announced that he will be donating 150 bags of rice, weighing 25 kilos each.