Mumbai, May 6 (IANS) Bollywood star Salman Khan, also known as the Hindi film industry’s enfant terrible, says he wants to help workers in filmdom by sharing his income and also work for the underprivileged in society.
‘Right now, I want to give a percentage of my earnings from the film that I will start to workers of the film industry,’ Salman told IANS, adding the amount is not fixed yet. ‘It can be half of the remuneration; it can be one percent.’
‘Even if everyone gives half a percent (of their remuneration), it will be huge money.
‘The government takes 30 percent from (the industry) plus the entertainment tax. Where does it (money) go, I don’t know. I know that the money, whatever small percentage we give, should go to the workers in the film industry,’ said the actor who gave two back-to-back hits with ‘Wanted’ and ‘Dabangg’.
The 45-year-old actor says he will first strategise his initiative and then take action.
‘I have to sit with all the heads of the (film workers’) associations and find out where the maximum amount of money is required. And the money would go there,’ said Salman whose ‘Ready’ will hit the screens June 3.
Directed by Anees Bazmee, ‘Ready’ is a remake of a Telugu comedy of the same name and also stars Asin Thottumkal who teamed up with him in ‘London Dreams’.
The actor’s life has been dotted with legal troubles and other unpleasant incidents – if he was involved in a hit-and-run case and blackbuck killing, he has also been known for picking up fights with fellow actor Shah Rukh Khan and allegedly hitting his girlfriends.
But it seems now Salman has left them behind and set his sights on noble causes. In fact, he says he will mix work with social work by utilising some time and money for underprivileged people while promoting a film.
‘I haven’t started publicising the film (‘Ready’) as yet. The way I will promote it is being finalised. Now the new funda has come up that you need 15 days to promote a film. Whenever these 15 days come, I will make sure there are 15 to 20 places where I can go and help those people under Being Human and come back,’ said Salman referring to his NGO Being Human.
‘When I go to these places, I would see who needs money and help. This money will not go to the administration. It will go directly to those kids who need it. Two or three operations will happen every day. When you go out for something like this, let’s not waste time by just smiling. That’s the biggest fraudulent act one can ever do,’ he said.
The actor has planned to reserve a sum of the promotional budget to accomplish his charity work and hopes other actors will catch on.
‘You are going to special children, underprivileged children, cancer patients and giving just a smile. What after that? I hope people, after me, catch up to this one thing and hope there is a competition on how much charity they do while going for the promotion of their film. Instead of spending the money on promos, PRs and all that stuff, let the money go into the country,’ said Salman.
(Dibyojyoti Baksi can be contacted at dibyojyoti.b@ians.in)