HYDERABAD: We cannot be sure if it was a media stunt, but it was pulled off well. American pop singer Reggie Benjamin, who was in the city to launch his Mission Save Her initiative in India, was supposed to be accompanied by the bad boy of Bollywood, Gulshan Grover. Much to the disappointment of the media, Gulshan could not make it.
But Reggie Benjamin delivered the message.
The 33-year-old singer and musician, whose roots trace back to Narsapur in Telangana, was born in Canada and came back to the city 27 years later for a cause.
“I read a news article about how young women in India are getting raped, assaulted and trafficked. Girls are being sexually assaulted every second somewhere in the world. So if I postpone, it will become worse. That’s when I decided to do something about it. Since I am a singer and music is what I live by, I decided to write this song,” shares Reggie who penned ‘Save Her’ along with four-time Grammy nominated singer and song writer Eric Benet.
The making of the song that will be released in the month of July has been made in collaboration with 40 other celebrities from Hollywood. “Michael Jackson’s ‘Heal the World’ raised close to 47 million dollars and I want to do the same. Hundred per cent of the proceeds from this music video will go to various organisations in India – government and non government – that are working for the same cause,” explains Reggie adding that the organisations will be supported based on their needs. “If they need money, we will provide. But most of them need support in terms of maintaining the places they are staying in, computers for educational purposes and so on. We want to raise awareness and change the legislation and stump this whole thing,” he says.
For this purpose he has roped in Bollywood actors Gulshan Grover, Mahima Chaudhry and Manisha Koirala. “They will bring more attention to the cause and I need them to pull that trigger in India. Particularly them because they understand the motives and feel for it as much as I do. I didn’t want a big star, just for the sake of it,” he clarifies.
Before the making of the song, the online campaign started by Reggie, where he shared a selfie with the words #SaveHer caught up instantly, storming social networking sites Twitter and Instagram.
“This happened in the US. Imagine if the same happened here in India too. Collectively there is so much we can do. Social media is the biggest and the most powerful tool and I want to use it right,” shares the singer who started singing at the age of eight. He proudly shares that Elvis Presley and Amitabh Bachchan have been his inspiration.
Only his second visit to the city, Reggie is all excited to take a tour and absolutely adores the spicy food. “I had six varieties of breakfast, all in huge portions. I just love the spices,” he laughs.