A film actor usually known for his negative roles, hypothecating assets to help the poor, migrant workers and those in need moved the residents of a tanda completely. They saw god in him and decided to construct a permanent memorial for the actor.
In a rare gesture, the residents of Chelimi tanda under Dubba constructed a temple for the Bollywood actor and real hero Sonu Sood. The temple, 10 kilometres from the newly formed Dhulmitta mandal headquarters, was inaugurated on Sunday. Interestingly, the small hamlet with 60 houses has not directly benefited from Sood’s largesse, but the youth in the village were so impressed by his work that they decided to go ahead with a temple.
“Initially, Sonu Sood provided food, booked trains and even planes for those who were stranded at various places due to COVID pandemic. Later, he bought a tractor and donated it to an Andhra Pradesh farmer, who used two of his daughters to till the land. Recently, we came across the news that Sonu Sood hypothecated his assets to help the poor. This is height of generosity. We saw God in him. Who else will indulge in such charity in the time of the pandemic?” asked Bhukya Rajesh Rathod, a graduate from this tanda who took the initiative in constructing the temple as a tribute to the actor. The entire tanda extended their support to Rajesh’s initiative and contributed in what all possible ways they could.
It cost about ₹1. 7 lakh to construct the temple out of which ₹50,000 was spent on the fibre statue of the actor.
One Madhusudhan, a native of Bangalore and residing in Hyderabad made the statue. He was a direct beneficiary of Sonu Sood’s gesture as the actor arranged a bus to help him reach his native place. When Rajesh approached Madhusudhan for making Sonu’s statue, he readily agreed and made the bust-sized statue at a charge less than the actual cost. This is a great response from a beneficiary of the actor’s noble gesture,”Mr. Rajesh told The Hindu .
