JAMMU: While Bollywood has been busy debating the question whether Pakistani actors should be allowed to work in India, two stars have actually bothered to do something more than talk about their admiration for India's armed forces.
Akshay Kumar and Nana Patekar have visited border posts in Jammu and did their bit to boost the morale of BSF personnel. If Akshay Kumar gave Rs 9 lakh to the family of Gurnam Singh, the BSF soldier who was killed in the line of duty on the international border in Jammu, Nana Patekar spent an entire day with BSF personnel even as there was continuous shelling from the Pakistani side.
"Aap log hain toh hum hain (we exist because we are here)," Akshay Kumar told the jawans during a two-hour visit to the BSF frontier headquarters in Jammu this fortnight. He interacted with the jawans and asked about their experiences.
"I'm only a reel hero, you are the real heroes. I play with toy guns in films but you work with real guns,’’ the 49-year-old actor said.
Interestingly, Akshay Kumar suggested that a mobile phone app be developed to help the families of personnel killed in the line of duty. "Why can't we make an app that displays the names of martyrs and the bank details of their family members? Our martyrs are decorated with medals, which is really good. But we also have to be practical, their families need money,’’ he said.
Nana Patekar recalled his time in the army. "I was in the Army and spent two and a half years. I know who our biggest heroes are. The soldiers serving on the frontier fight a battle everyday to protect the integrity of the nation. My salute to them and the whole nation stands by them,’’ he told New Indian Express during his visit to the Jammu frontier headquarters of the BSF.
Incidentally, during his visit to some border areas in the Samba sector, Pakistan fired a mortar shell at one of the outposts. "Our greatest weapon is not the Bofors nor the AK-467. It is our jawans,’’ he said.
While Akshay Kumar’s father served in the Army, 66-year-old Nana underwent commando training with the 2nd Maratha Light Infantry in Belgaum.
Nana Patekar also spent time with the family members of slain soldier Gurnaam Singh.
Asked whether more Bollywood celebrities would be visiting the border areas, BSF inspector-general (Jammu frontier) D K Upadhyay said discussions are underway with some of them. "These visits are a morale booster for our jawans. The lives of jawans are very tough and these visits give them some moments of joy,’’ he said.