Salman Music Lover Blog: Akshay Kumar and Tamannaah Bhatia support YODA’s Charity exhibition

Akshay Kumar and Tamannaah Bhatia support YODA’s Charity exhibition for promoting their upcoming film ENTERTAINMENT in Mumbai on Saturday, 2nd August, organised by Varsha Taurani! Akshay donates Rs. 3,60,000 to YODA!

Starring Akshay Kumar and a gorgeous Golden Retriever who plays the title role in Entertainment, this year’s August release by Tips Industries doesn’t just promise to be a mega entertainer, but is also contributing to the cause of our loyal furry friends! An event full of fashion, fun and lots of love, the 2nd Shop with Heart sale presented one the wardrobe of the stars from Entertainment (Akshay Kumar, Tamannaah, Sonu Sood, Krushna Abhishek & Prakash Raaj) along with personal pieces from Akshay Kumar, the lovely Twinkle Khanna, and Varsha and Ramesh Taurani.

Akshay and Tamannah were most clearly the star of the show at this exhibition! They both arrived on time as usual, and spoke about their warm association with YODA and connection to Entertainment! The highlight of the event was Akshay bought a Burberry jacket from the exhibition for Rs. 1,00,000 but he paid Rs. 3,60,000 for the same thereby generously donating the rest to YODA!

Akshay affirmed that, “People help stray dogs for a few days and then forget about it. It is noble charities like YODA which are dedicated to helping animals throughout the year. It gives me a lot of happiness to know that the clothes worn in the movie by all of us will not go to waste, as they will be sold and the proceeds will all go to YODA. It is a good initiative to ensure that every resource is made useful. I hope all actors will do this and help other NGOs as well.” Akshay also spoke about the importance of doing an empty genre like animal based movies and compared Bollywood to Hollywood which has many animal based films such as Planet of the Apes releasing this year! He was visibly very excited that Entertainment has created a positive buzz with its connection to man’s best friend, dogs!

Tamannaah Bhatia, lead actress of Entertainment said that, “I am very happy to be associated with YODA. I have now decided that all the clothes I wear in the movies will be sold in such a manner and I will give the proceeds to charities like YODA. I will do this for every film!”

In a first of its kind initiative, this Bollywood and fashion collaboration created a platform to help the cause of the animals that have featured in the film. Entertainment joined hands with Shop with Heart founded in 2013 by two friends – Varsha Taurani of Tips Industries & Shanti Sivaram of Bling Entertainment Solutions, in collaboration with Rachana Nakra of Fuffabulous. Shop with Heart aimed to bring one a sale of the finest pre-owned fashion at accessible prices with all of the proceeds going to a charitable cause. The first sale event raised funds for In Defence of Animals (IDA), which was used to conduct repair work at their Deonar centre.

All the proceeds went to the non-profit animal welfare group YODA (Youth Organization in Defence of Animals). YODA was born out of the minds of 5 young visionaries who were newly exposed to the harsh realities of how animals are treated in India. In particular, animal mills, where the female species are bred over and over until death to produce puppies for monetary gain. 99 percent of the commercial breeders in this country are full-fledged puppy mills. YODA’s method of working towards reducing the number of puppy mills is via adoption, direct action and education. They want to gently alter the Indian mindset towards animals and hope to make our country a safe place for them one day.

Apart from Akshay’s generous donation, the hot topic of the event was surely the high end brands that were being sold at amazing rates!