Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, Oscar-winning music composer AR Rahman and Bollywood actors Saif Ali Khan and Vidya Balan will unite on India’s Independence Day (15) to raise funds for Covid-19 relief work.
Titled "We For India", the event will be streamed on Facebook on August 15 and aims to raise funds for the Covid-19 relief missions of philanthropic platform Give India.
The three-hour videothon will feature more than 100 artists - including filmmakers
Rajkumar Hirani, Imtiaz Ali, Farah Khan, Vikramaditya Motwane, Vikram Bhatt and Ribhu Dasgupta.
Several interactions are planned with stars like Ajay Devgn, Akkineni Nagarjuna, R
Madhavan, Farhan Akhtar, Shreyas Talpade, Tusshar Kapoor, Prosenjit Chatterjee and Pratik Gandhi among others.
The show will be hosted by actor Rajkummar Rao.
Reliance Entertainment is producing the event, in partnership with The World We Want (WWW) and supported by GiveIndia.
Namit Sharma, creative producer, Reliance Entertainment, said, "Our effort in putting together this fundraiser has taught us one thing - the world is one, and there is no dearth of goodness and kindness."
In addition to Jagger and Sheeran, international stars and musicians, who will take part in the show, are singer Annie Lennox alongside her daughter Lola Lennox, Africa origin actor Ini Dima-Okojie, Unicef goodwill ambassador Nancy Ajram, co-founder of CHIC, guitarist Nile Rodgers and music group Sister Sledge ft Sledgendary.
Veteran writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar, dance maestros Prabhudeva and Remo De Suza, musicians Shankar Mahadevan, Usha Uthup, Pandit Bikram Ghosh, Mithoon, Amit Trivedi, Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani, Salim Merchant and Sulaiman Merchant, Swanand Kirkire, Shantanu Moitra, Kanika Kapoor, Lisa Mishra will also perform.
Indian tennis star Mahesh Bhupati will also be a participant. Besides, the show will also feature medical professionals who will share their experiences and urgent requirements to keep India safe.
Shilpa Shetty Kundra, Sonakshi Sinha, Sara Ali Khan, Rakul Preet Singh, Malaika Arora, Dia Mirza, Kalki Koechlin, Sanya Malhotra, Ananya Panday and Alaya F will also feature on the videothon.
Proceeds from the event will fund oxygen concentrators, cylinders, ventilators, and essential medicines as well as ICU units.
Funds will also go towards supporting the staffing of vaccination centres. Meal and ration kits will also be provided to the rural and urban families hit financially by the pandemic.
Cash relief will be provided to families who have lost an immediate member.
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)