Bollywood does have a beautiful side. Going beyond the glitz and glamour, the beauty is reflected in its philanthropic nature. The film fraternity supporting a good cause is more a norm than an exception.
Keeping that spirit in mind, last weekend, stalwarts from the film world — Waheeda Rehman, Sharmila Tagore, Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar and Om Puri, were in the Kolkata to support a fund-raiser. Their endeavour will provide ray of hope to the underprivileged cancer patients as the funds will be utilised for their treatment at Tata Medical Centre (TMC).
Walking down the nostalgia lane, the artistes featured in a show titled Uff Yoo Maa. It has been conceptualised to commemorate 100 years of Indian cinema.
Interacting with the media prior to the event, Javed Akhtar, known for his frank talks, said, “India is a medical tourist centre in the sense it has worldclass hospitals, the best of doctors and patients from neighbouring countries and even beyond come here to avail the treatment. The irony is, the “five-star hospitals” comes at a price. The privileged class has the means to get treated at an expensive address, however, the down trodden have no where to go. The lack of finances comes as a death warrant for them. Sadly health care is not on the priority list of the powers that be. And this is where, the Tata Medical Centre is filling this gap.”
Functioning since 2011, Tata Medical Centre at present has 167 beds and it will be upgraded to 250 in the near future. Spread over 13 acres of land, the hospital offers half of the beds at subsidised rates or free of charge. The project on hand will be completed in three years and the cost will be around 350 crores.
To generate fund for the cause, Bollywood is extending a hand of support. “We are creating a corpus for the urgent expansion of the hospital as well as treatment for the under privileged patients currently at the centre. Actor Shah Rukh Khan has pledged a crore every year. Others on the list include Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CMD Biocon, investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and a clerk from Kotchi government office,” informed Geeta Gopalakrishnan, director donor relationship.
“With pollution reaching alarming level, it has played a pivotal role in the rise of cancer cases in the country. However, cancer does not necessarily mean death. The right treatment can be a life saver, provided the citizens have access to it,” underlined Shabana Azmi.
Sharmila Tagore too expressed her concern over the fact that the treatment of cancer comes at a high price. “I came to know some of the machines are priced at 17 crore and the charge of a single session is around `80,000. The effort from Tata comes as a silver lining to those suffering from the dreaded disease,” she felt.
“Besides the expansion of the hospital, plans of constructing a research centre on a two acre land is also taking shape,” Mammen Chandi, director Tata Medical Centre said.