Covid-19: Bollywood, television celebs raise funds through albums, videos and partnerships

More than 85 artists collaborated on Sunday for a home-to-home fundraising concert called I for India Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, AR Rahman, Akshay Kumar, Will Smith, Bryan Adams for India.

NEW DELHI: Celebrities in the film and television industry are pitching campaigns both to keep their fans amused and to collect funds during the covid-19 crisis for those in need.

More than 85 national and foreign artists have collaborated on a Sunday home-to-home fundraiser concert named 'I for India' in collaboration with GiveIndia, a global social network, Facebook, and non-profit organization.

All profits from the concert will go to the Indian Covid Response Fund managed by GiveIndia, which is working on-ground to provide pandemic-affected people with healthcare services, livelihood support and the necessary. In addition to offline donations, people in several countries will now be able to make donations using the Facebook Fundraisers app.

Among other celebrities taking part in the four-hour long concert are Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, AR Rahman, Akshay Kumar, Will Smith, Bryan Adams, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, Ranveer Singh, Hrithik Roshan, Karan Johar.

"We launched Facebook Fundraisers recently to empower people to harness the platform's full scale and power and enthusiasm, to direct money to projects that can protect and save lives. In a statement, Manish Chopra, director and head of collaborations, Facebook India, said in a statement, we are grateful to the entertainment industry for coming together for the 'I for India' concert, which will support NGOs and charities working right now to provide food, shelter and health care to those who need it most."

Earlier this week, in collaboration with HDFC Bank Ltd, Rahman and lyricist-poet Prasoon Joshi released a music video entitled Hum Haar Nahi Maanenge, which is entitled the song of hope. The video featured Clinton Cerejo, Mohit Chauhan, Harshdeep Kaur, Mika Singh, Jonita Gandhi, Neeti Mohan, Javed Ali, Sid Sriram, Shruti Haasan, Shashaa Tirupati, Khatija Rahman, Abhay Jodhpurkar, Sivamani percussionist, sitarist Asad Khan and bass prodigy Mohini Dey.