Satyanshu Singh starts online classes to raise money for COVID-19 relief

The director has started online classes for budding cinema students and has roped artistes from different fields of filmmaking for the initiative.

Actor Vinay Pathak, screenwriters Anjum Rajabali and Sudip Sharma, cinematographer Siddharth Diwan and director Shoojit Sircar have come aboard the initiative.

Since April 1, more than a dozen lectures have been conducted with students from cities like Bokaro, Kota, Bhilai, Almora, and Coimbatore taking part in them. Overseas students have also showed interest in the lectures.

Through the initiative, Satyanshu has so far raised Rs 15 lakhs which has been donated to non-for-profit organisations like Milaap, Goonj, Sarvahitey, and Sneha, providing food and support to out-of-work labourers, women and children in slums, and the homeless.

The daily wage workers from the film industry are also benefitting from this initiative.

The lectures will continue throughout the month of May as more and more experts from the industry and students from all over the world join hands in this endeavour.

"The overwhelming response these lectures have received has enabled me to contribute way more than I ever could as an individual.

"Seeing hundreds of people stretch their limits of compassion further strengthens my belief in the inherent goodness in all human hearts," Satyanshu said in a statement.

Vinay said the initiative is "nothing short of brilliance".

"At least that's what I've come to learn ever since I've known him, and that's why I readily agreed to his lectures the second he mentioned them to me. Imagine an initiative that brings together some of the most potent and creative minds together on one platform to explore cinema and its many facets."

"And the best of it all is that it contributes towards the present noble cause, in which there are so many who're not as privileged as we all are," the actor added.

Singh is best known for co-directing films such as "Tamaash" and "Chintu Ka Birthday" with his brother Devanshu. The duo won a Special Jury Award (Non-Feature Film) at the 2013 National Awards for "Tamaash".