Sonu Sood: ‘The messiah of migrants’

Actor Sonu Sood, who has been dubbed as the 'messiah of migrants' hit the limelight for his work in helping migrants reach their homes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Famous antagonist in reel-life, and a true hero in real, Sood has also pledged financial support to over 400 families of migrants, who died or were injured during the coronavirus lockdown.

The 46-year-old actor has launched an initiative to help reunite migrant workers who were stranded in Mumbai with their families in distant corners of the country.

Sood has helped over 20,000 migrants reunite with their families. Be it Jharkhand, Assam, Bihar or Odisha, Sonu Sood helped people get home through buses, trains, and in some instances, even by organising air tickets. He also introduced a toll-free helpline number so that migrant workers could send in their requests.

Later, he arranged for food, buses, trains and even chartered flights for stranded migrants, some of whom were walking home after the lockdown was imposed earlier in March and left them jobless.

Sonu Sood, soon turned an author with his autobiography titled "I Am No Messiah". The book will account the experience of the actor during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement about the book, Milee Ashwarya, publisher, Ebury Publishing and Vintage Publishing, Penguin Random House India, mentions: "While most of us in our lifetimes wish to work to help others in need, only a few actually make it our life's mission. Sonu Sood is one such person... . The book will bring together the story of this amazing journey."

In September 2020, Sood was chosen for the prestigious ‛SDG Special Humanitarian Action Award' by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for his humanitarian works during the COVID-19 pandemic.