B-town Celebs have a lot of influence on the general public of the country. Given to the fact that they have a huge onscreen presence, it makes it easier for them to use it and put it to good use. While some might do it as a PR stunt, there are few who really are interested in doing the charity work in silence and without the involvement of the media.
Here’s a list of those few who are doing their bit for the society which might be in the way of starting their own foundation, physically helping out people in need or supporting a cause by joining their hands with welfare programs and foundation. Whatever the way they do the social work, the fact is they are not taking their fame for granted. We must take an inspiration from these celebrities and try to do as much as we can
Sonam Kapoor
Being one of the recent one’s to join the Bollywood film industry, Sonam has created a huge buzz and has a large fan following out there. She is a very well known fashionista but very few people know that she has put this fashion sense for right causes as well. The actress tied up with the designer, Pernia Qureshi ‘s pop shop where she donated some of her outfits. The proceeds from which will be donated to an NGO called Smile Foundation. Smile Foundation helps the underprivileged children around the twenty-five states in our country.
Not only that, Sonam is also the brand ambassador of the Cuddles Foundation, a charity foundation that helps to meet the nutritional needs of the children afflicted with cancer. Sonam hosted a charity gala dinner to raise the money for the foundation. She has also been spotted spending some quality times with the kids in Tata Memorial Hospital.
Akshay Kumar
Akshay Kumar has been in the news for quite long now. No, not because of the films but because of the social work he has been doing. It might not be wrong to say that he is the most humble and grounded Bollywood actor. Recently he proposed on social media to develop an app so as to bridge the gap between citizens including him willing to provide financial aid to the families of martyred soldiers. The result of this: The Home Ministry of India and he have joined hands to develop an app.
He also gave a financial aid of 90 lakh to the 180 families of the drought-hit farmers in Maharashtra who committed suicide, contributed 1 crore to Chennai’s flood relief, donated 50 Lakh to the charitable trust- Being Human, attended an event held by Youth Organisation in Defence of Animals (YODA) where he bought a Burberry jacket for Rs1, 00,000 but paid Rs. 3, 60,000 for the same as a part of donation.. Not only that, he also started a martial arts school for women in Mumbai which provides free self-defense training and the school has till now trained 4000 women. That’s really great amount of dedication to charity and the fame and money put to good use, isn’t it?
Image Courtesy: Instagram Account: Akshay Kumar
John Abraham
The insanely sexy Bollywood actor, John Abraham is well known for his love for animals. And that’s the reason why he is so closely associated with PETA. He has donated huge amounts of money to the association. He also has his own ‘John’s Brigade’, providing shelter to the homeless and needy. He also attends many charity events but he never does it for the publicity. In fact, he tries to do the social work as silently as he can.
Nana Patekar
If anyone can be called as a real life hero then it is Nana Patekar. He believes in leading a very simple life. He has been donating Rs 15000 each to the widows of the farmers of Maharashtra who committed suicide due to drought-hit. He also has a foundation with a co-actor which has collected Rs 22 crores from the public for farmer welfare. He has donated about 90% of his earnings of last 30 years to charity. Not only this, he also has adopted few villages to make them as model villages. He also visited more than 100 farmer families in Marathawada.
We salute him for all the dedication he has put in supporting the people out there.
Salman Khan
As we already know Bhai Jaan aka Salman Khan owns a foundation with name ‘Being Human’. We often see him wearing the ‘Being human’ t-shirt. As per a report, the foundation has adopted several villages in Maharashtra and outside states. Apparently, this organization helps underprivileged children across India to better education. Salman Khan once took to twitter with an announcement saying Being human foundation will give free treatment 100 genuine heart patients. Recently he also announced that he will be selling his paintings and the amount collected from the sale will be used for charity.
Image Courtesy: Instagram Account: Salman Khan (beingsalmankhan)
Gul Panag
Former Miss India ’99 and an amazing actor, Gul Panag is also a wonderful human being. Currently, she runs a Colonel Shamsher Singh Foundation (Gul 4 Change) which mainly concentrates on gender equality, education and disaster management. She has also been a part of Shraddha, a school for autistic adults.
Apart from this she has run the Delhi Half Marathon, participated in India against Corruption movement, Green Commandos- an initiative to save the environment, Shop for Change Fair Trade- a concern promoting fair trade for farmers of places like Kutch, Telangana etc. Wow, Looks like Gul’s on roll!
Image Courtesy: Instagram Account: Gul Panag
Deepika Padukone
Having battled depression herself, Deepika Padukone founded ‘The Live Love Laugh Foundation’ to raise awareness about psychological disorders. As a part of NDTV’s Greenathon initiative, she adopted the village Ambegaon in Maharashtra. She also became the brand ambassador of the NGO Indian Psychiatry Society, then launching the campaign #DoobaraPoocho. She also took part in the World 10K Bangalore Marathon, which raised money for over 80 NGO’s. She proves it that she more than just a beautiful face.
Image Courtesy: Instagram Account: Deepika Padukone
Priyanka Chopra
Piggy Chops has her own foundation known as –‘The Priyanka Chopra Foundation for Education and Health’ which provides education to underprivileged children. She donates 10% of her annual income to this foundation. She has been a member of UNICEF since 2006 and the Goodwill ambassador of UNICEF. She is also a member of ‘Save the Girl’ campaign. She has also pledged to donate her own organs after death in order to promote organ donation.
Image Courtesy: Instagram Account: Priyanka Chopra
Rahul Bose
Rahul Bose was one of the first Bollywood celebrities to become the Oxfam Global Ambassador. The actor has successfully worked for the upliftment of the society. He founded a parent organization ‘the Group of Groups’ which has about 51 charitable organizations and NGO clusters in Mumbai. He also founded a new NGO Names Foundation that focuses on the education of children with low economic backgrounds in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Image Courtesy: Instagram Account: Rahul Bose (rahulbose7)
So you see Bollywood is not all about glam and fame. Bollywood has a few generous personalities as well. They really are an inspiration and we should learn from them to do our bit in the society.
