Aamir Khan crooning All Izz Well to cheer up tiny tots in flood-hit Leh, or Preity Zinta and SRK picking up garbage in Mumbai — Bollywood has always had a big heart.The scenario is a tad different in T’wood. Despite charging crores for every movie they act in, local stars are tight-fisted when it comes to espousing causes.
Students of the Anti-Ragging Force of St Mary’s College have experienced T’wood’s “indifference and apathy” firsthand. The young ’uns who have organised a 5k run on Sunday morning have not got a single star to support their cause, despite the fact that many actors are alumni of this college.
Anju Prasad, spokesperson, St Mary’s College, Yosuf-guda, says, “We tried pursuing Nagarjuna, Naga Chait-anya, Allu Arjun, Pawan Kalyan, Venkatesh, Suresh Babu etc. to support our anti-ragging message. They made us run around for appointments and no one came forward. We got through to the producer of Pawan Kalyan’s new movie, but he said that the star couldn’t be part of the run as he doesn’t appear ‘for such events’.”
Rachana Mehta who had to rope in Diana Hayden from Mumbai as brand ambassador for the NGO Heal A Child Foundation has had a similar experience. “We approached the Tollywood fraternity to tie up with our NGO but we haven’t got any response yet. Not many stars here express an interest to make a difference,” she says.
Some NGOs in the city believe that if you think a good cause could do with some star endorsements, it should be timed with the release of a movie as actors turn good samaritans only ahead of their movie’s release.
Srivyal Vuyyuri, director, Sphoorti Foundation says, “The few actresses who came to us and made big promises vanished after they got their mileage in the media. It’s only a PR exercise for them. In 1988, NTR and ANR would take bowls and request people to donate funds towards cyclone relief. Today’s stars think they are demi-gods and are too busy running parallel businesses.”
