By Fuad Omar
With the earthquake that rocked Gujarat and destroyed Kutch, everyone in
Mumbai is reeling and coming out in their droves to lend support. Be it the
people on the street who are packing up their trucks with food and clothes
or the film stars themselves, no one wants this calamity to go by without
having contributed in some way to helping those affected by it. The death
toll is estimated to be above fifty thousand and it appears to be the
biggest natural calamity to have ever hit India.
Those of us in India will remember the Republic Day celebrations
preparations which either were shook by the earthquake or never took place.
A huge stage show which was hyped everywhere entitled Hum Ek Hain, staged in
five major cities on the day with the likes of Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan,
Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Shilpa Shetty and many, many more was
originally planned to carry the message of national integrity. One show made
it to the stage that day and that too was full of heartfelt pleas for the
victims, and now more of such shows will be organised in India and abroad to
collect funds for the relief of the earthquake victims. The industry leaders
have set a target of eleven crore rupees, not an easy task by any means, but
given the stars' huge fan following in India, the UK and USA it could
happen. A delegation from the industry has already set out to contribute ten
crores to the relief fund, and it seems sad how the people are rushing
forward as are the film stars, but the government remains silent.
Many
people here are feeling the disillusionment already at how the PM wishes to
visit Kutch and when he did, all supplies of aid via air were stopped for
the three days he was there as he wanted the airport to be secure for his
arrival and departure. Talk of how those three days so soon after the quake
when emergency services were pulling out survivors from the rubble all
rescue operations stopped so the services could arrange adequate security
for the person who is supposedly responsible for the people of India. We can
only hope the situation improves as India is now even being targeted by
international aid workers who are saying 'we are helping but why is the
government of India not doing anything itself?' - a valid point. We at
Asiangigs.com urge all readers to donate what they can to help the
unfortunate in Gujarat and send our heartfelt wishes to those who may know
anyone affected by the disaster.
I had the pleasure of meeting Aftab Shivdasani recently, of 'Mast' fame who
thing that cannot be ignored is the young man's talent and passion for what
he does which has gained him a huge fan following since Mast alone and
people who did not take him seriously sat up and took notice of this wonder
kid. Now with Kasoor, Aftab has delivered a mature performance in a role
which belies his age and judging by the reaction he got at the first day's
showings big things should hopefully be around the corner for this talented
actor. His line up of films are impressive to say the least and the various
roles are all as varied as can be, adding to a super showcase for his
talent. Kasoor has received a mixed response but whatever happens Aftab will
not be ignored. Watch out everyone, there's a new superstar in the making.
Madhuri Dixit is looking absolutely stunning lately and has still got a
golden smile which makes the sun shine. Our living legend was unusually
nervous on the eve of the shooting at Film City last Monday. She was on the
superhit Kaun Banega Crorepati, the quiz show on Star Plus television with
the questions being fired by its inimitable host, Amitabh Bachchan. (For
those who have yet to see the show I hear it'll air in the UK soon and
believe me you're in for a treat!)
The actress and her friends spent Sunday evening reading over general
knowledge books in an attempt to come out with flying colours the next day
on the show for which you can never be too prepared.
Madhuri's mother revealed: "Come and have a look at our dining table. It is
full of general knowledge books." The actress revealed that her friend had
bought GK books because ''she wanted me to win handsomely.''
Madhuri has requested the producers to send part of her winnings to an
orphanage in Pune. Said the conscientious actress, "I dread to think what
children who have been orphaned and/or lost their limbs in the quake will
do. With the prize money, the orphanage can help such children." The rest of
her winnings would be donated to the earthquake relief fund and what a game
she played!
Madhuri used just one lifeline - phone-a friend. And since the question
which stumped her was related to matters of the heart - "Who performed the
first successful heart transplant operation?" - she called up her husband Dr
Sriram Nene and asked his assistance!
"Another option for a phone-a-friend was my maternal aunt who lives in
Dombivli (a town close to Bombay)," the superstar said. "Before the
shooting, I telephoned to inform her. She was so nervous she told me to
repeat every word and very slowly at that, even after I told her to relax!
Amitabh couldn't help but marvel at Madhuri's presence of mind as the
actress unhesitatingly answered one question after the other. Her time was
up when she was just a question away from the 1 crore mark with two
lifelines remaining. Nonetheless, she won a princely amount of Rs 50 lakh.
In spite of her outwardly calm, Madhuri says she lost a couple of kilos in
the four days she was preparing for the game show! "Digestive disorders were
the order of the day, not just for me, but for my hypersensitive friends
too!" giggled Madhuri. She steals our hearts and gives back to those in
need, her smile evokes bliss and she's intelligent beyond words, living
legend in every sense, our Madhuri!
Two other Bollywood actresses, Sonali Bendre and Rani Mukherjee, have been
participants on the show and won Rs 25 lakhs each. Both donated the prize
money to charity.
Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, who featured in previous episodes of the
show, won Rs 50 lakhs each. Sachin Tendulkar also won Rs 50 lakhs.
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