‘Feels Like We Are One Family Now’

Actor Sonu Sood speaks to Lachmi Deb Roy about his work for migrants and on ‘Ilaaj India’, a platform he launched to give free medical help to people in need. Excerpts:

Keeping touch with migrants

Yes, I am still in touch with the migrants I have sent home. There are many whom I helped get employment, got them treated and also got them educated. So, I feel that we are one family now. Whenever they have problems, they connect with me. And they also come out to help others. So, it creates a kind of ripple effect, where every single person goes out to help the other person. I am happy that I am able to start this and now I can see a huge voluntary list and they want to help others and work as a team. Many are coming forward to help other people medically and in the education of the needy. I hope this continues and we have more people giving their best to change the lives of those in need.

Love that touches his heart…

There are many incidents which actually touch my life, like people naming their kids after me, building temples in my name, though I don’t know whether it is right or wrong. But the kind of love that I get is phenomenal. When I go to Hyderabad, Punjab or Odisha, the love that they shower on me can’t be put in words. They start crying when they see me. They hug me and they tell me that because of the right help that I could give them at the right time, their lives are safe now.

Next plans

I want to do something big in the field of education, employment and medicine for the needy. I have opened this platform called Ilaaj India which helps people with free medical help. In the past few months, we were able to perform almost close to 1,000 surgeries across the country. I feel it is something magical and I still can’t believe that we are able to do this.