As India battles the coronavirus pandemic, members of the entertainment industry are looking at novel ways to raise funds to procure more testing kits. With India’s COVID-19 tally crossing 1 lakh and numbers shooting up in the fourth phase of lockdown, many believe that India is not testing enough.
To raise funds for testing kits, filmmakers Anurag Kashyap and Neeraj Ghaywan recently invited fans to bid for their film trophies. Writer Varun Grover and stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra are also part of the initiative.
The trend started with Kamra taking to Twitter to announce he was ‘giving away his YouTube button’ and called for other artistes to give away their prized possessions in this time of crisis.
Donation link - https://t.co/xm5mNd2qDZ pic.twitter.com/1PxsZRqyy8
— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) May 20, 2020
Following this, Kashyap took to Twitter and said whoever bids the highest, gets the winning Filmfare trophy for his acclaimed gangster-drama Gangs of Wasseypur. While fans can bid for Ghaywan’s three prizes which include a signed copy of the ‘Prix de l’Avenir’ he won at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival for debut film Masaan, Grover is auctioning his TOIFA award for the song ‘Moh Moh Ke Dhaage’.
Highest bidder gets the original trophy for the Filmfare critics award best film 2013 . “Gangs of Wasseypur”... https://t.co/BtXrUQAJ7C
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) May 20, 2020
I am offering my awards for a charity auction to raise funds for COVID test kits.
— Neeraj Ghaywan (@ghaywan) May 21, 2020
- TOIFA Best Debut Director (Masaan)
- Filmfare Best Film (Juice)
- Signed copy of the jury prize- ‘Prix de l’Avenir’ (Masaan) that I won at Cannes Film festival, 2015.
(Details in the tweet👇🏼) https://t.co/mIZ7vBzuaO pic.twitter.com/RZJqlu0VkE
Adding the TOIFA trophy I won for 'Moh Moh Ke Dhaage' (DLKH, 2015) for charity auction to raise funds for Covid test kits.
— वरुण 🇮🇳 (@varungrover) May 20, 2020
Putting it up on ebay in 2050 was my retirement fund plan but i believe now is a better time to use it to secure India's future. https://t.co/t0Q6YJMCkg https://t.co/2xqDEakmKA pic.twitter.com/hu6Yig2G7p
Veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar also joined the cause by pledging to auction a personalised, signed copy of his book, In Other Words.
The very kind & legendary @Javedakhtarjadu pledges to give a personalised signed copy of one of his favourite books, ‘In Other Words’. Every penny counts. Whoever is bidding for this please send you bid to contact@kunalkamra.in
— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) May 20, 2020
Link to donate - https://t.co/xm5mNd2qDZ pic.twitter.com/syuJliKsls
Kamra had also shared a description and a link to the ongoing campaign on Milaap Foundation. The description under the fundraiser stated that the funds raised through the campaign will be transferred directly from Milaap Foundation to Mylab Discovery Solutions, which will help Burda Media India secure the COVID-19 testing kits that will be donated to hospitals and labs.
“The cost of each testing kit is 1.2Lacs + GST and each testing kit has the capacity to test 100 samples. We aim to donate ten testing kits, which will help 1000 people get tested for COVID-19, free of cost. In the next 30 days, we need Rs.13,44,000 for ten kits which will help one thousand people get tested,” the description said.
