Kangana Ranaut slams Bollywood, says Leonardo DiCaprio’s concern for Chennai draught inspires her, donates Rs 42 lakhs for river’s revival

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Actor Kangana Ranaut, who has been campaigning for environmental causes and has been actively participating in events around the Cauvery Calling campaign, has said she was inspired by Leonardo Di Caprio’s concern for draught in Chennai.

She slammed Indian celebs for not paying heed to important matters.

Speaking to SpotBoye in an interview, Kangana said, “The rivers that are our lifeline are ceasing to exist. The drought in Chennai became a global issue. Leonardo Di Caprio was concerned about it even though he is in the US. Don’t you think I will die of shame if I have no concern about what is happening in my country?”

Kangana has recently pledged her support towards Cauvery Calling, a campaign by Sadhguru’s Isha Foundation to revitalise the river and increase forest cover. It is a 12-year programme which aims at planting as many as 242 crore trees, which will subsequently increase water retention in the basin and revitalize the river.

Apart from spreading awareness, the actor is also planning to organize activities to make sure the campaign is a success, and has even decided to donate a substantial portion of her earnings towards the initiative, “Each of us needs to donate only Rs 42 for a sapling every year and the volunteers of Isha Foundation will plant them. Our population stands at 1.3 billion. Imagine the green belt we can have if each of us donates for a sapling! My sister Rangoli said that she will support this cause so that her son, Prithvi, grows up in a greener world. My appeal to everybody is to think of the next generation and come forward to help this cause. I will dedicate a large part of my earnings to the cause.”

Talking about Bollywood celebrities, Kangana further said, “No offense but even when Notre Dam, unfortunately, caught fire, celebrities were crying back home, I mean whatever said and done, even we had glorious structures that are destroyed but no one cares about that including Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. What I am saying is that this wannabe attitude isn’t right. Environmental concerns shouldn’t be a fancy thing to do so that’s why it is important to involve yourself so that participation is more concrete. I think amazon fire is important even more so for that part of the world but for us, Cauvery is such a big red alert like literally murders took place last summer for water, that city was completely out of gear and Leonardo Di Caprio mentioned about it also last year but back home no one did. No one mentioned about Chennai drought and the situation of farmers there. They are just social media activists. Nobody is rich enough, everybody needs money, I am sure it goes the same for the richest people in India. When I hear about them, they are under a lot of debt and that too 1000s of crores of loans and it scares you. So my point is it is never too easy to take out even Rs 42 from your pocket and give it to somebody else. Hence celebrities need to set precedents where they are beyond armchair warriors. It isn’t a big deal to donate Rs 42 but who will go through the hassle of opening the link and making the payment?”

Recently, Kangana made a donation of Rs 42 lakhs to Isha Foundation, which will help plant 1 lakh saplings across the Cauvery basin and help the farmers to introduce agro-forests in an attempt to replenish the river’s eco system. ”When I hear things about Amazon being on fire and Aarey trees being cut, I really get panicked but I don’t want everyone to get panic attack about that. Instead, we should do our bit and donate to plant trees so that we can solve an existing problem. We cannot expect under-privileged people to donate. The people who can must donate atleast 2 saplings on behalf of them. This will bring a huge change in our environment. Being a part of this initiative will also set a module for the coming generations and our generation will set an example that we stood up to save our environment,” she said in a press statement.

Actors Kajal Aggarwal and Tamannah Bhatia also joined Kangana for the initiative.