With help and relief work from the Tamil film industry, Chennai is resurfacing bit-by-bit

After the devastating Chennai rains and subsequent flooding, the city is slowly limping back to normalcy. But for Kollywood and the entertainment world, it will take much longer to stabilise. Nearly a week after Chennai’s record rainfall on a single day (December 1), two Tamil films have released this Friday, (Dec 11) Aatharva Murali’s Eetti and the little known Thiruttu Rail. Many screens in Chennai and its suburbs have only limited shows, with footfalls reaching an all time low. There has hardly been any shooting in the last 10 days in the city. Meanwhile, several Kollywood stars were involved in flood relief work. Noted comedian RJ Balaji and actor Siddharth did remarkable work. Superstar Rajinikanth’s son-in-law, and leading actor Dhanush and his team of NGOs went out of their way to get food and other essential items for the flood victims. Suriya, known for his philanthropic activities through his Agaram foundation, has now shifted their focus to rehabilitation of affected victimes after doing relief work. [caption id=“attachment_2536530” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Tarique Anwar/Firstpost[/caption] Did you ever imagine these stars taking up the job of cleaning up the rain ravaged city full of garbage? As actor Karthi said: “The need of the hour is to undertake a thorough cleaning up of the city on a war footing. Everywhere you go, you see the remnants of decay and massive destruction left behind by the floods.” The houses of some of the stars like Siddharth, Vishal, Karthi, Raj Kiran, Kushboo and many others were flooded. An actors association based in Chennai called Nadigar Sangam carried out relief operations as well. Suriya’s younger brother Karthi, who is a part of Nandigar Sangam said, “Actors and members of Nadigar Sangam are working round the clock to provide relief material to those affected. We are also trying to clean up the mess left behind by the floods.” Meanwhile contributions to Tamil Nadu Chief Ministers Relief Fund are pouring in from Bollywood and Tollywood. Shah Rukh Khan has donated Rs 1 crore, while Hrithik Roshan has chipped in with Rs 25 lakhs. From Tollywood, Allu Arjun has donated Rs 25 lakhs . Many actors from Tamil and Telugu film industries, including Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Suriya, Dhanush, Sivakarthikeyan, Mahesh Babu, Allu Arjun have so far contributed money as well. In an industry where heroines play second fiddle and have limited screen space, Kollywood female actors have also contributed to the relief fund, taking charge on this front. Hansika contributed Rs 15 lakhs while an upcoming actress like Sri Divya surprised everybody by donating a hefty Rs 10 lakhs. Nayanthara, Trisha, Anushka, and Ramya Krishnan among others, organised food, shelter and other basic necessities. Shruti Haasan has opted for crowd funding donation and she is all set to collect RS 4 lakhs through it. Samantha, Varalakshmi, Parvathy Menon and Kajal too have done their bit for the flood relief work. With all this external help, Chennai is slowly getting stitched back together.