Tollywood stars donate to Hudhud victims

Announcement of donations and aid pledged by mana Tollywood stars to the victims of the cyclone that devastated costal Andhra was the talk of tinsel town all of Wednesday. As is the case with all things Tollywood, these public avowals of largesse came with plenty of drama, satire and potshots laced in-between the lines��� err announcements rather. While the social media was abuzz with constant updates about which star donated how much, calls urging ���heroines from Mumbai to donate whatever they can���, and jibes about ���stars who���ve made hundreds of crores from people only giving away a few lakhs��� and politicking over ���the Prime Minister���s `Rs 1,000 crore grant being insufficient��� also made news.
Tamil stars to the fore
It all began with the news of Tamil superstar Suriya���s family donating Rs 50 lakh ��� (Suriya Rs 25 lakh, his brother Karthi Rs 12.5 lakh and first cousin Gnanavel Raja Rs 12.5 lakh) for the relief fund. This was followed by reports of actor Vishal donating Rs 15 lakh. The list of celebrity donors just kept growing by the minute. News flashes about Tollywood Movie Mogul D Ramanaidu, donating Rs 50 lakh, Balakrishna donating Rs 30 lakh and 20 tonnes of rice and medicines made the headlines soon after. Even as unverified speculation about donations by the likes of Ajith and Rajinikanth began doing the rounds, news scroll on television channels were filled with news about donations made by Tollywood stars like Allari Naresh, Nithiin, Nagarjuna, Ravi Teja, Prabhas, Brahmanandam, Puri Jagannadh���s son Aakash and even Sampoornesh Babu.
Chiranjeevi���s potshots at PM
Megastar Chiranjeevi joined in a little late in the afternoon issuing a press note announcing Rs 50 lakh from his MPLAD (local area development fund) to the relief fund. ���This is the worst flood in over 50 years. Unofficial estimates put the damage at over Rs 1 lakh crore. It is surprising to see the Prime Minister announcing just Rs 1,000 crore as relief. I urge the Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to urge Centre to declare it as a national calamity and push for more relief,��� said Chiranjeevi.���
Paruchuri���s poetry and Kona���s jibes at ladies
Popular writer Paruchuri Gopala Krishna took to poetry to give a clarion call to the writing fraternity. ���Eee prapancham lo konalenidi manchitanam matrame! Adi pravarthanalone sampadinchukovale thappa, dabbu tho konalemu. Veeralaliddam, vitharana chuupudam (loose translation: goodness is the only thing money can���t buy, it���s earned only through good deeds, let���s donate and show our goodness),��� urged the writer, who waxed poignant about the destruction wrecked by the storm. He adds, ���Prasantha nagaramlo pralayabheebhathsam. Sundaranagaram chidram. Evi thalli nirudu kurisina himasumalu, ekkadamma memu mechina viskha theeralu? Badhatahptha hrudayam tho (Peaceful city has been wrecked by nature���s fury, where is the snowfall of last year, with a saddened heart)!���
Minutes later, ace writer Kona Venkat, jumped in to support Paruchuri Gopala Krishna���s call by taking a swipe at actresses posting, ���I feel our heroines from Mumbai should respond and donate whatever they can for relief��� It���s ur duty (sic).���
Heroines loosen purse strings
Till afternoon, news of Rakul Preet Singh donating Rs 1 lakh was doing the rounds, later, announcements by Kajal Aggarwal donating Rs 5 lakh and Samantha���s charitable trust donating Rs 10 lakh followed.