Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the nation on the coronavirus outbreak on Thursday, 19 March, appealed to the citizens of the country to follow a ‘janta curfew’ between 7 am and 9 pm on Sunday, 22 March. He urged people to put themselves under self-isolation and help combat the spread of the infection.
Bollywood has extended support to the PM, urging their fans to follow his request and stay at home.
Aamir Khan posted a message on social media asking his fans and followers to stay at home during the Janta Curfew day.
Salman Khan released a video message thanking all the health and law officials who were out there fighting the coronavirus pandemic and also requested people to not spread rumours and stay indoors.
Actor and stand-up comedian Kapil Sharma shared a video asking people to stay at home and not to go to crowded places. He also spoke about following the Janta Curfew on Sunday and requested people to stay indoors between 7am and 9pm.
Kartik Aaryan took to social media to upload a video, wherein he can be seen delivering a monologue about how self-isolation is very important.
Starting with the hashtag #CoronaStopKaroNa, Kartik spoke about how the big companies have provided the work from home facility to their employees in order to stop the spread of coronvirus. He also stressed on the fact that a number of film releases and events have been delayed due to the pandemic. The actor further said that it’s not the right time to go on trips or eat out together or play cricket on turfs.
Kartik continued by saying that social distancing can help prevent spreading of the infection, but we never take anything seriously. Extending his support to PM Modi, Kartik said, “We are with you Sir”.
Shah Rukh Khan wrote that “it is important to reduce social interaction to a minimum”.
Appreciating the PM’s initiative, Akshay Kumar tweeted, “An excellent initiative by PM Narendra Modiji...this Sunday, March 22 from 7 am to 9 pm let’s all join in the #JantaCurfew and show the world we are together in this. #SocialDistancing”
Taking to Twitter, Anushka Sharma and Amitabh Bachchan said that this is the time to adhere to the precautionary measures listed by PM Narendra Modi.
Here’s what other celebs had to say:
Sona Mohapatra took to social media to say that the call for the curfew is an indication of the “tough times” and everyone should be united.
Varun Dhawan also added that he will be taking part in the curfew.
Dhanush tweeted a video asking people to stay at home and express their gratitude to medical professionals at 5pm on Sunday, as Modi suggested. He also insisted that youngsters should not be careless and end up turning into “carriers of coronavirus”.
“Let’s all fight this together”, tweeted Ayushmann Khurrana.
Here are some more gestures of support from celebrities:
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)