Chennai: Sonu Sood is the man of the moment. At a time when many ‘heroes’ who portray themselves as saviours on screen are keeping silence, this actor, who is popular for negative roles, is doing his best to help the needy during the ongling Covid-19 lockdown.
Recently, he arranged buses for hundreds of migrants amid the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. The actor had sponsored the travel and meal kits for the migrants.
Besides regularly providing food and other essentials to the suffering people, he even launched a toll free helpline for migrants going home. And what more? He had also arranged flight for stranded persons.
“I will continue sending migrants home until the last migrant reunites with his family and loved ones. This is something really close to my heart and I will give it my all,” Sood, 46, said.
Earlier, the actor also donated over 1,500 PPE kits to doctors across Punjab and provided his Mumbai hotel for the accommodation of the heathcare workers.
The actor, who had earlier organised multiple bus services for many such workers heading to Gulbarga, Karnataka from Maharastra, said, “It has been an extremely emotional journey for me as my heart pains to see these migrants staying away from their homes walking on streets.”
While his acts have been earning him appreciation, he is also facing criticism.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday lauded Sonu Sood’s initiative to arrange buses for stranded migrant workers. The actor met Thackeray at the latter’s residence Matoshree in suburban Mumbai in the night.
The meeting came on a day the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena launched a scathing attack on Sonu saying he was ‘enacting a political script written by BJP.
Sena MP Sanjay Raut had wondered whether the BJP propped up the Bollywood actor to
‘offer help’ to migrant workers from north India stranded in Maharashtra amidst the lockdown, with the political motive to show the Uddhav Thackeray government in poor light.
In his weekly column ‘Rokhthok’ in Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ on Sunday, Raut questioned the sudden rise of ‘Mahatma’ Sood on the social scene of Maharashtra during the lockdown.
Raut also referred to a ‘sting operation’ against Sood ahead of the 2019 general elections, saying he had agreed to promote the BJP-led government at various platforms through his official social media accounts
Amid the bouquets and brickbats, Sonu continues his service with a smile.