BOLLYWOOD AGAINST COVID-19

With corporations and businessmen making large contributions to the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund, Bollywood wasn’t going to fall behind. Here are some of the big names who have publicly announced how they are doing their part to ght the pandemic.

Akshay Kumar has announced that he will contribute Rs 25 crore to the PM CARES Fund.

Hrithik Roshan purchased N95 and FFP3 masks for BMC workers and other caretakers in Maharashtra.

Lata Mangeshkar announced a donation to the Chief Minister’s Assistance Fund in Maharashtra, contributing Rs 25 lakh to help the government.

Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli have donatedan undisclosed amount towards the PM CARES Fund and the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund in Maharashtra.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas have donated to 10 charities like the PM CARES Fund, Goonj, Doctors Without Borders and UNICEF. They, too, have not disclosed exact amounts.

Sabyasachi Mukherjee donated Rs 1 crore to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF). He also promised Rs 50 lakh to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund in his home state of West Bengal.

Other big names that have contributed to the PM CARES Fund include comedian Kapil Sharma who has donated Rs 50 lakh; Varun Dhawan who has pledged Rs 30 lakh, and Kartik Aaryan Rs 1 crore. Meanwhile, other celebrities are donating towards helping daily wage workers who face dif culties from the lockdown.

Ekta Kapoor has donated the equivalent of one year’s salary at Balaji Tele lms of Rs 2.5 crore.

Rohit Shetty has donated Rs 51 lakh to the Federation of Western India Cine Employees.

Rajnikanth was one of the rst celebrities to come forward and has donated Rs 50 lakh to daily wage workers in the Tamil lm industry.

Salman Khan and the Being Human Foundation will nancially support 25,000 daily wage workers.

Yash Raj Films has pledged Rs 1.5 crore to the families of its workers.

Echoing the Prime Minister's sentiments, Kailash said, “Even though we are in our homes, we are not alone. The country’s 1.3 billion people are together during this lockdown period. ‘Prakash Alokan’ is my humble salutation through music.”

Badshah Speaks Out On Plagiarism Charges

Ever since the release of his latest track Genda Phool, rapper Badshah has faced plagiarism accusations for including lyrics of an old Bengali folk hit but not crediting the original creator. Uh-oh!

His new song mixes rap with lyrics from an old Bengali folk hit, Boro loker biti lo, created by Ratan Kahar.

“After receiving so much information from the Bengali community, I have been constantly trying my best to reach out to him and connect with him and be able to do justice to the situation to all my might. However, the lockdown situation has not been very helpful, it has been dif cult to get through to the village that Shri Kahar is in and I am still trying,” Badshah tweeted.

The Kala Chashma rapper pointed out that Boro loker biti lo is a traditional/folk song from the Bauls of Bengal and these songs are generally open for recreations, reprises and sampling.

Meanwhile, original creator Kahar has stated his unhappiness with the incident.

“I don't have any greed for money, food or anything else. But I live with a pain that even though many people sing my songs, they don't know the proper style of singing it, neither do they know the story behind why I created the songs. I want the artist Badshah to at least give me recognition for my song,” he said. Hopefully the two musicians manage to talk this out!

Sunny Leone Starts Chat Show On Instagram

As we get into week three of the coronavirus lockdown in India, actress Sunny Leone has started her own chat show on Instagram.

Titled ‘Locked up with Sunny’, the show will see the actress in conversation with several celebrities. In her rst episode, Sunny Leone will be joined by YouTube sensation Anisha Dixit.

“It was my idea to just have fun with our fans and people on Insta. It is all about lighthearted conversations with funny things and details about the guest,” Sunny said.

She announced the rst episode with a post on the social media platform, saying there will be new episodes every day. She also shared another post, hinting at the identity of her next guest.

“Here is a hint to guess tomorrow’s guest on @lockedupwithsunny brought to you by @starstruckbysl - ‘He shot this image’” the caption read. It was revealed to be none other than celebrity photographer Daboo Ratnani.

Aside from the Instagram show, Sunny revealed that she is also spending time at home with her three kids and homeschooling them.

“I have to teach them, make them learn new things at home. I am being creative enough to keep them busy during lockdown," she said.

MADHURI DIXIT NENE’S DANCE ACADEMY TO OFFER FREE ONLINE DANCE LESSONS

With everyone stuck in their homes as a social distancing measure, actress Madhuri Dixit Nene has teamed up with choreographers like Saroj Khan, Remo D’Souza, and Kathak expert Birju Maharaj to offer free dance lessons at her online dance academy, Dance with Madhuri. She will be giving out two dance classes for free every week to help people relax and work out.

“We want to provide people to relieve stress in the sanctity of their own home with an opportunity to relax and enjoy themselves. Dance is one of the best forms of workout, so it becomes a double bonanza to learn and get in shape,” the veteran actress said.

Dance styles offered at Dance with Madhuri include Bollywood, Bharatnatyam, jazz, tap dance, Odissi, and even Latin ballroom. Workout routines include yoga, tabata, pilates and the unique ‘dancercise’.

When users upload videos of their classes, they win a chance at all-access subscriptions at the online academy and even the opportunity to video chat with the dancing diva.

In the past, Madhuri has said she hopes Dance with Madhuri will encourage more people to enjoy dancing without worrying about how they look. We can’t wait to learn some new moves from our favourite dancing queen…

HARIHARAN AND BAND CREATE SONG AGAINST COVID-19 RUMOURS

Singer Hariharan has brought together celebrities like chefs Sanjeev Kapoor and Ranveer Brar, music producer Akshay Hariharan, marketing guru Vinod G. Nair, and diamond merchant Punit Gupta to create a song against spreading COVID-19 rumours.

The song, titled Chappa chappa afwaah chale is inspired by Hariharan’s song Chappa Chappa Charkha Chale from the 1996 lm Maachis and cautions people against virus rumours (afwaah).

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The 5-minute track has been shot by each celebrity in their own home and released across social media platforms. The band calls themselves the Sur-Viralists and hope that this ambitious project will ‘info-tain’ (inform and entertain) listeners.

“When we started off with the project, we all felt that it was impossible to achieve. But thanks to the marvel of technology and appbased platforms, we did it,” said Vinod G. Nair, who conceptualised the initiative.

Hariharan pointed out that in the current environment where everybody is under lockdown, the spread of rumours via social media is alarming. “We want to tell people to ignore rumours and to stop their friends and others from spreading them," he said. Good on you, we say!

KAREENA, SAIF STIR UP SOCIAL MEDIA

Actress Kareena Kapoor Khan and her husband Saif Ali Khan have announced that they will be donating to organisations working against the deadly pandemic. But some keen-eyed social media users noticed that the PM CARES Fund was not on their list…

“At dif cult times like these, we need to come together and help each other. We both have taken steps to do just that and have pledged our support to UNICEF, GIVE INDIA and the International Association for Human Values (IAHV). We urge those of you who can, to do the same,” wrote