While most desi celebrities are still busy tweeting their prayers for quake-ridden Japan, pop icon Lady Gaga and Hollywood bad boy Charlie Sheen have jumped out of the virtual scene and actually sprung into action. On Saturday, hours after the quake devastated the country, Gaga, 24, launched a Japan Prayer Bracelet — a white rubber bracelet with her signature claw, that says ‘We Pray for Japan’ in English and Japanese. Gaga announced the bracelet on Twitter and asked her fans to order the $5 (Rs 225) bracelet from her website. "Little Monsters, show your support for Japan with this "We Pray For Japan" wristband! All proceeds go directly to Japan relief efforts," she wrote.
The same day, actor Charlie Sheen, 45, tweeted that $1 from every ticket sold for his US tour will go towards quake relief: ‘My Violent Torpedo of Truth’ would go towards aid in Japan. "Pain & devastation in Japan demands us all to dig deep & LOVE THEM VIOLENTLY Dogspeed my cadres of the Far East! (sic)," the actor wrote on Twitter. The tickets for his April 2 show in Detroit were sold out within minutes.
However, even the biggest Bollywood stars — Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Bipasha Basu — have yet to come forward with initiatives. When contacted, most celebs said the government of India must take action. But that, say, industry insiders, is typical of
Bollywood. "Our celebs take the easy way out. Tweets come easy. So does commiserating. To do something real takes time, effort, and money. No one is ready to invest in that," says film-maker Pritish Nandy. "Our celebs are too self-involved. It is very unfortunate. On the other hand, Hollywood celebrities are far more humanitarian unlike Bollywood where it is all about promoting your own family and yourself," says adman Prahlad Kakkar.
Some, however, feel that the criticism is unnecessary. Filmmaker Vipul Shah says, “This is absurd. For every calamity, the film industry is the first to react. Blaming the film frat like this is really sad.”
{{/usCountry}}Some, however, feel that the criticism is unnecessary. Filmmaker Vipul Shah says, “This is absurd. For every calamity, the film industry is the first to react. Blaming the film frat like this is really sad.”
{{/usCountry}}Lady Gaga (L) has come up with a Japan bracelet, tennis champ Novak Djokovic wears his support on the knee; Charlie Sheen has launched a charity campaign.
Meanwhile, 50 Cent finds the matter funny
Rapper 50 Cent, 36, has come under fire from fans after tweeting jokes about the Japan tragedy. “Look this is very serious people. I had to evacuate all my h--s from LA, Hawaii and Japan”; “Man they made a movie about all this 2012 now you think that was a lucky guess,” read some of his comments. He later apologised, saying his comments expressed shock.