Acclaimed filmmakers Anurag Kashyap and Neeraj Ghaywan, as well as writer-comedian Varun Grover and Kunal Kamra are auctioning their awards to help fight coronavirus.
The artists have invited fans to bid on their awards in order to raise Rs 13 lakh to help COVID-19 patients.
Taking to Twitter, Kamra posted a link to the donation page where he put his YouTube Button award for auction and asked other artists to do the same. Following the example, many artists have come forth to declare their awards fro bidding.
Donation link - https://t.co/xm5mNd2qDZ pic.twitter.com/1PxsZRqyy8— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) May 20, 2020
Kashyap has put up his Filmfare award which the director had won for Gangs of Wasseypur in 2013.
While each ruppee counts I appreciate the hell out of Comrade @anuragkashyap72 who is giving away his 2013 gangs of Wasseypur critics award to the highest donor of this charity with my YouTube button Link - https://t.co/xm5mNd2qDZI urge other artists to help in their own way! https://t.co/izrv9CaxQT— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) May 20, 2020
National Award-winning director Ghaywan has put up three awards for bidding including the TOIFA best debut director award that he won for Masaan, the Filmfare award that he won for his film Juice as well as a signed copy of the ‘Prix de l’Avenir’, he won for Masaan at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.
I am offering my awards for a charity auction to raise funds for COVID test kits. - 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— Neeraj Ghaywan (@ghaywan) May 21, 2020
Varun Grover has put his YOIFA award for best lyricist, which he received for the song 'Moh moh ke dhaage' from the film Dum Laga Ke Haisha. While posting the same on Twitter, the writer said, "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".
Adding the TOIFA trophy I won for 'Moh Moh Ke Dhaage' (DLKH, 2015) for charity auction to raise funds for Covid test kits. 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— वरुण 🇮🇳 (@varungrover) May 20, 2020
The fundraiser is being conducted by Burda Media India in collaboration with Mylab Discovery Solutions and Milaap Foundation to raise funds for RT-PCR Test Kits for donation to some of the worst affected areas in India.
"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," the donation page reads.
Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases continued to rise in India with over one lakh total number of confirmed cases and over 3,000 deaths.
