New Delhi: As Bollywood and the cricket fraternity drew flak from social media and other quarters for its relative silence on the Covid crisis in India, big names such as cricketer Virat Kohli and wife, actor Anushka Sharma have stepped up to aid relief efforts.
Kohli and Sharma Friday started a fundraiser on Ketto and made an initial donation of Rs 2 crore. Earlier, actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who is now based in the US, started a fundraiser. This as people on social media ribbed celebrities at large about their jetting off to vacation spots like the Maldives whenever a crisis emerges.
Everybody is going to Maldives and I can't even go to my college, wtf bro!!!#Maldives
— Shubham Danny (@iDonnUnderstand) November 23, 2020
Conversations among rich people about Maldives ??? pic.twitter.com/KPcxmbVFGv
— Danish Sait (@DanishSait) November 23, 2020
The efforts came as celebrities faced criticism, as recently as this week, about their contribution while India struggles with the second Covid-19 wave that’s seen a record number of daily cases and deaths. Scathing headlines that read ‘India burns but celebrities stay mum‘ were splashed on some news sites.
Following this, stars such as Akshay Kumar and wife Twinkle Khanna and Farhan Akhtar, apart from Kohli, Sharma and Chopra, started fundraisers or made donations and expressed their solidarity. In several instances, celebrities reportedly stepped up their efforts on the advice of their media managers.
Also read: Akshay Kumar, Vicky Kaushal, Axar Patel: List of Bollywood actors, sports stars who got Covid
On the frontline
However, not all celebrities shied away from the issue. Actor Sonu Sood had won many hearts last year when he helped migrants during last year’s lockdown. He also helped arrange air ambulances, injections and oxygen even after contracting the disease himself this April.
Salman Khan has revived his campaign from last year and has been distributing food kits in Mumbai to frontline workers.
Kannada actor Arjun Gowda turned into an ambulance driver while singer Mohit Chouhan has been looking out for stray dogs and feeding them, an initiative he started last year in Delhi.
The fundraiser bandwagon
Proceeds from Kohli-Sharma’s fundraiser on Ketto will go to ACT Grants that is tackling the issue of oxygen supply shortage. The celeb couple’s Rs 2 crore-donation makes up part of the Rs 7 crore target.
However, several pointed out how the amount was a paltry sum for the couple when viewed against their net worth. As of January 2021, Anushka Sharma had a reported net worth of Rs 350 crore while Virat Kohli’s net worth was Rs 900 crore.
Bhahiya 100 crore mil ke kamane wale bas 2 Cr donnate kar rhe hain..
— jai bharat (@123_meeta) May 7, 2021
You have thousand crore, at least donate some money.
Like Australian cricketer!
— Sunny Mehta (@SunnyMehtaINC) May 7, 2021
Other cricketers such as Hardik Pandya, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane and Krunal Pandya also announced donations while the IPL was still on. Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins also made a $50,000 donation, which he first said would go to the PM CARES fund, but later directed to UNICEF.
Meanwhile, Twinkle Khanna and Akshay Kumar donated 100 oxygen concentrators.
Farhan Akhtar’s production company made donations to a number of NGOs working on the frontline, though the amount hasn’t been made public.
‘Master Blaster’ Sachin Tendulkar had donated Rs 1 crore to the Mission Oxygen charity in late April. Tendulkar, who contracted Covid in March, had also pledged to donate plasma.
Tendulkar, who was a Rajya Sabha MP, had earlier faced criticism for not doing much or speaking up about the crisis.
Sachin Tendulkar had a Tennis Elbow Injury. Sad to know it has affected the Spine
— Joy (@Joydas) February 3, 2021
Where are the others
Bollywood’s ‘King Khan’, Shah Rukh Khan has also drawn flak from some. Some called him out for not expressing solidarity with New Delhi, his home town, which has been a high burden Covid region in the country and witnessed a particularly bad turn of the second wave.
Khan, though, seemed occupied with his IPL team, Kolkata Knight Riders. Since the IPL tournament was cancelled, Khan hasn’t said anything. Meanwhile, other teams such as the Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals made donations towards Covid relief efforts. The Kolkata Knight Riders haven’t announced any donation yet.
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Other Bollywood stars — Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor, Tiger Shroff, Disha Patani and Sara Ali Khan — made news for flying to the Maldives in the middle of the pandemic.
While Bhatt has been collaborating with journalist Faye D’Souza to amplify details for Covid resources, there haven’t been any reports yet about any sizeable donations made by these celebrities in 2021.
Also read: ‘Not only ultra rich’ — Indians who can afford private jet are fleeing as Covid cases surge