Poster boys of Bollywood: Celebs who championed for a cause

Minutes after Aamir Khan joined the intolerance debate and said that his filmmakerwife Kiran Rao suggested leaving the country Anupam Kher took a swipe at the star in a series of tweets However it hardly came as a surprise The veteran actor has always responded sharply to lsquointolerance in Indiarsquo remarks Earlier this month he led a march from India Gate to Rashtrapati Bhavan to restore Indiarsquos image as a ldquotolerantrdquo nation mdash a counterprotest against writers and film personalities returning their awardsAnupam KherWhen Dibakar Banjerjee returned his National Award to support Film and Television Institute of India FTII studentsrsquo protest against the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the institutersquos chief the actor said the move reeked of political agenda Not many would endorse his opinion that allrsquos well in India but he seems to have turned it into his pet cause mdash utter the word lsquointolerancersquo and therersquos no escaping Kherrsquos ire In a way he seems to be a selfappointed poster boy of tolerant India hitlist points out a few other celebs who hardly if ever let go of an opportunity to take forward certain causes close to their heartShah Rukh KhanThe king of romance has always pushed the lsquorespect for womenrsquo cause During a brand campaign in 2013 SRK had questioned why names of male actors appear before that of the actresses when the credits roll At that time he had promised that his Chennai Express costar Deepika Padukonersquos name will appear before his in the filmrsquos credit list And he kept his word In May this year the star urged his fans to respect women and not abuse them And then earlier this month at a press conference for his upcoming film Dilwale he reportedly said ldquoIf you respect women be it as a girlfriend wife or sister they will love you Respect is love for them So I respect them a lotrdquoSalman KhanThis star is an ardent advocate of secularism and has often mentioned how his family is made up of people belonging to diverse backgrounds and yet celebrate all festivals with equal enthusiasm In fact Salman hosts Ganesh Utsav at his Bandra residenceMahesh BhattThe filmmaker goes out on a limb to support Pakistani artistes working in India and has launched many faces from the neighbouring country in his production ventures At the National Academy of Performing Arts in Karachi earlier in April Bhatt was quoted saying that he aims to foster cultural activity between the two countries since artistes from across the border have been disallowed from taking part in Indian films and events due to the tense bilateral relationsNana PatekarHe has taken on the responsibility of providing financial and moral support to droughthit farmers in the state Nana personally visits the families of farmers who ended their lives due to poverty and mounting debts and extends monetary help to them He had met 112 farmer widows in Marathwada Beed and plans to meet around 700 more in Nagpur Latur Hingoli and other parts of the state Earlier in an interview with hitlist the actor had said ldquoAll of us want to help but most of us are not sure if the money we want to give will reach the right people So I decided to visit these people myself and help themrdquoVivek OberoiHe espouses a variety of causes be it helping cancer patients or providing shelter and education to less fortunate girls But what caught everyonersquos attention is how the actor gets actively involved in relief and rescue activities during natural calamities In 2004 he reached out to the tsunamiaffected families in Cuddalore district in Tamil Nadu in He also adopted the village Devanampattinam with the aim of rehabilitating the victims In November last year Vivek had gone to Uttarakhand to help the floodhit populace