Bollywood singer Neha Kakkar is ruling the charts with her hit songs and our hearts with a spate of monetary gifts for out-of-work artistes and people in need. A longtime judge on Indian Idol, Neha is also an influencer to boot. She is the first Indian musician to receive the Instagram trophy for her whopping 52.7 million fan following. In fact, she’s only the fifth Indian to receive the trophy; joining the ranks of Akshay Kumar, Virat Kohli, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra. However, it’s her heart of gold that has made an impression on us.
The singer is in the news for her kind gesture towards veteran lyricist Santosh Anand. Despite writing some of Hindi cinema’s greatest songs and winning two Filmfare awards, Anand has been battling poverty for years. He lives alone with his little granddaughter, since his son and daughter-in-law committed suicide at a young age. Neha broke into tears on meeting the ailing lyricist on the Indian Idol 12 stage, and gifted him Rs. 5 lakh to tide over.
In the episode telecast yesterday, we saw another generous gesture from her. Contestant Pawandeep Rajan who hails from Uttarakhand paid tribute to the missing labourers in the recent flash flood. Neha Kakkar was moved to tears and donated Rs. 3 lakh to support the family of a missing worker who had recently become a father. She said: “As you have come in support of the missing labourers and have urged viewers to help the families, I am with you in this mission. I’d like to donate Rs. 3 lakh to the families of our missing labourers from Uttarakhand and I urge others to help in whichever way they can.”
The Bollywood singer not only reached out to help musicians during the lockdown, she also joined Give India’s Mission: 1 Million Masks to donate masks to Corona warriors. The responsible star returned to work as a judge on talent show Indian Idol and continued her giving spree. The singing sensation believes in sharing her good fortune freely but with humility.
In November 2020, she was so touched by the hard luck story of one contestant from Jaipur that she offered him Rs. 1 lakh. The talent contestant Shahzad Ali is an orphan raised by his granny. He works at a cloth shop in Jaipur and didn’t even have the money to travel to Mumbai for auditions. His ‘nani’ borrowed Rs. 5,000 so he could participate in the show. While fellow judge Vishal Dadlani offered to find him a good voice tutor, Neha Kakkar came forward with monetary aid.
A few days later, the singer was deeply moved by the viral video of octogenarian Shantabai Pawar. The ageing martial artiste performs Lathi Kathi on the streets of Pune to feed 10 orphaned girls who she cares for. However, her ageing frame is having trouble doing martial art these days. Neha offered the brave street artiste a sum of Rs. 1 lakh as a token of appreciation.
On Indian Idol 11, contestant Diwas said that he had not been able to celebrate Diwali with his family in Jharkhand for six years. Neha gifted him Rs. 1 lakh so he could spend the festival of lights with his people back home. In the same season, contestant Sunny Hindustani gave a breathtaking performance with the musician Roshan Ali. Roshan used to play with the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan but had to stop performing due to health issues. The senior musician’s story left Neha so emotional that she offered him financial aid of Rs. 2 lakh.
All these incidents go to show that Neha Kakkar is a truly responsible celebrity who believes in sharing her fortune for the good of others.
