B-Town’s invisible man Aditya Chopra shows up in time of need

Aditya Chopra

Every time that the entertainment industry has suffered a blow over the past year, it has also witnessed immense support from stars and filmmakers. The latest act of solidarity comes from Yash Raj head honcho and director Aditya Chopra. Since early March, the leading cine bodies have been discussing setting up a vaccine booth at Film City for daily-wage workers, and a proposal to this effect was sent to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray at the month-end. It turns out that Chopra had then initiated a dialogue with the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), promising to bear the inoculation expense of all Film City workers, should the CMO approve the plan. After the state government announced the suspension of shoots till April 30, the film associations shot off another letter to Thackeray, as reported in mid-day's April 17 edition.

With each vaccine costing Rs 250, Chopra felt it may not be affordable for a daily-wager. "Last year, YRF contributed Rs 1.5 crore to help the marginalised in Bollywood. Once the vaccinations began across the country, Adi felt it was necessary for the 15,000 workers at Film City to protect themselves against the virus. So, when he heard that the associations were formulating a vaccine roll-out plan, he wanted to play an active role in it," says a trade source.

In the recent letter, the unions have made an appeal for an additional inoculation centre in the Mira Road-Bhayander region. Ashok Dubey, general secretary, FWICE, reveals, "When we sent out the earlier proposal, we wrote how daily-wagers who were working on a 12-hour shift wouldn't be able to go out and take the jab. That led us to consider a mass vaccination drive within the premises. That's when Yash Raj Films' [head] told us that they would bear the expenses for all the Film City workers. He is someone who honours his commitments."

15k - Number of Film City workers whose jabs will be sponsored by Aditya Chopra