Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan says the entertainment industry has come out in support of the society every time they have been asked to as they are just like common people and are not “villains”.
Asked whether he would like to do something for the distressed farmers of the country like Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar and Nana Patekar have done, the Piku star, who turned 73 on Sunday, said at the launch of his new show Aaj Ki Raat Hai Zindagi: “I know that the film industry is often brought into prominence and is criticised for keeping away from such things, but that is not true”.
“We are perhaps the first industry that always comes forward whenever there is any kind of a national distress situation or a calamity,” he added.
Bachchan added: “From the early years in the 1960s perhaps you have not witnessed the kind of participation the industry used to have. The entire industry, like about 400-500 of us, used to go out on the streets and used to perform and collect money and send it to distressed areas.”
“We used to play celebrity matches and it still happens. There are many people who are doing it. We are all not villains; there is a heart in the industry as well,” he added.
However, Bachchan shared that he has not much talked about his social efforts in public as he does not feel “comfortable” doing so.
“I deliberately never talked about this, because I don’t feel comfortable talking about whatever work I do. But it’s become very difficult to keep away from such matters because now the information media is so strong that questions keep arising, unlike past years,” he explained.
“Actually, I’ve been working on this since last eight-nine years. I was visiting some region in certain part of the country and I read in the papers that farmers were committing suicide because they couldn’t pay Rs. 5,000 (Dh283),” he added.
Bachchan said he collected about “50 farmers who were on the verge of committing suicide and I paid back their money and saved them”.
“It is something I don’t feel comfortable talking about, but yes if there is a question asked to what have you done, then I’m going to defend myself. But if whenever there is any need, I’ll always come forward,” he added.
Aaj Ki Raat Hai Zindagi, which will be aired on Star Plus starting October 18, will be Bachchan’s fourth TV show after Kaun Banega Crorepati, Bigg Boss 3 and Yudh.
