Has-been actors supported by Gandhi funds

A trust set up with revenues from Richard Attenborough’s Oscar-winning Gandhi is helping provide aid to hundreds of poor and forgotten Indian actors.

More than 500 film actors are on the books of the Cine Artistes Welfare Fund of India, which was set up by the British director.

India’s Bollywood, the world’s biggest movie industry, produces more than 800 films a year, and many actors languish after their careers end.

The Hindi TV channel Aaj Tak last month found a former movie star begging in front of the same office where he once used to be mobbed by admirers.

Attenborough’s Gandhi, a film about the life of Indian independence leader Mohandas Gandhi, won eight Oscars in 1982, including Best Director, Best Picture and Best Actor.

The director pledged 5% of the film’s profits to the public trust, run by leading Indian film personalities. The fund now has more than €722,000, said Indian film development corporation managing director Dipankar Mukherjee.

The trust helps those over 45 who have performed in at least five films and now earn less than €400 a year. The names of the beneficiaries are not revealed.

“Every month we disburse £9 (€13) as pensionary benefits to these ageing cine artistes who have fallen on bad days with virtually no means of income,” Mukherjee said.

The fund also provides medical and educational help to the families of the beneficiaries.