The coronavirus pandemic is nothing less than a death scare as the city that never sleeps is now in lock down. With the world coming together, extending a helping hand, our Bollywood fraternity which claims a higher moral ground than the top of the Statue of Unity, has only followed Raj Kapoor’s word, “The show must go on”.
In these trying times, when production houses have come at a halt, movie releases postponed indefinitely and daily wage earners facing the brunt first hand, B-towners have resorted to thalis and taalis, when they could have done much more to stay relevant.
It’s only a matter of time when the real problems are noticed, and fans look at their so-called idols for help. While it is understandable that the government is doing its bit that doesn’t need aid from celebs, but donating for those who cannot access healthcare, or are left jobless due to this outbreak is expected. The impact especially here is on those who are associated with their own sector.
The Producers Guild of India has announced a relief fund to help and support daily wage earners, however only Sonam Kapoor and her family have reached out to help so far.
Film critic Komal Nahta also expressed that A-list actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Deepika Padukone, Varun Dhawan and Vicky Kaushal should donate money for the wellbeing of the workers.
“Top stars agar Rs 1 crore ya Rs 1.5 crore donate karne lagein toh koi badi baat nahin hai,” Nahta said in a video on social media.
It is easy to ask your employees to stop working over ‘safety reasons’, but have they gone beyond that to check on the aftermath? For someone who works on daily wages is not even backed to stock on supplies, let alone affording healthcare if at all this pandemic gets to them.
Meanwhile our celebs have continued to keep themselves on the entertainment pages of news websites with their ‘self-care, paintings, poems, monologues, workouts etc’ on social media. It’s high time they take cues from their western counterparts like Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, and Ryan Reynolds among others, who have supported the needy through generous donations, besides streaming entertaining and uplifting messages online.
