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Posted On: May 5, 2008
Noted filmmaker Firoz Nadiadwala is a man on a noble mission. And his mission is to provide for the rehabilitation, education and employment of those women and children who have been victims of human trafficking. Joining Firoz in this noble cause is clothes brand GAP and software major Microsoft. All 3 of them are working in sync with (UNODC) United Nations Office on Drug and Crime in the fight against human trafficking. Bollywood Hungama spoke to Firoz to find out how he got involved with this serious issue and what steps he plans to take? “Human trafficking is not just a very serious and grave issue but is an unpardonable sin. It is nothing but the buying and selling of human beings especially women and young girls. According to UNODC statistics, human trafficking is more than a $ 20 billion business annually and not many people are aware of it. People always talk about drugs and illegal arms and HIV etc but one of the main sources of HIV is prostitution which in turn exists because of human trafficking. The fact is that no woman becomes a prostitute out of her own free will; it is a route which they resort to or are forced to take up mainly because of lack of education which ultimately results in no money for basic survival. The first step is to identify the various pockets and areas where human trafficking is going on in a rampant way and then create the needed awareness about this issue. We then plan to make sure that the women who are rescued from human trafficking are given proper education and employment. Once they have employment, they have money and they can look after themselves and their families.” We also asked him on how the association with GAP and Microsoft came about, “We had made a short 2 minute film which was screened just before our film Welcome in all the theatres across the world. In that short film Mr. Amitabh Bachchan has also expressed his concern for this issue. Fortunately for us, since Welcome went on to become a super-duper hit, we were able to reach out to 1.5 billion people. Since it was placed immediately after the censor certificate it became like a compulsory viewing and helped in creating some awareness about human trafficking across the globe. In fact, United Nations started receiving many calls about this film and they got in touch with me and invited me in February to Vienna for a global conference on human trafficking. That's where I met the chief representatives of GAP and Microsoft and some senators from Washington. We felt that entertainment was the biggest way to increase global mass awareness about this issue. Even if one person out of every 1000 who watches the film has a change of heart and feels for this issue, I feel we have achieved the purpose.” says Firoz So does he plan to rope in any more Bollywood celebrities to support this cause, “A very big Indian star whose name we would divulge shortly has offered his support and with his name associated with this project, much more awareness would be created. We will also be approaching some top names in Hollywood as well to support this cause. The Govt. of India has been very supportive and encouraging. The UNODC chief representative Mr. Gary Lewis, a very senior executive from UNODC Ms. Nandita, the chief person from GAP-India Mr. Lakshmi and a senior person from Microsoft - Vikas have all been extremely supportive in this endeavor. Some very big international MNC's have also expressed their desire to join this movement. In fact, we have decided that we would keep aside some amount from the collections of all our future films for this noble cause”, signs off Firoz. Must say in this day and age when most producers are only focusing on making maximum moolah, this noble gesture from Firoz A Nadiadwala indeed comes as a breath of fresh air.
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