You don’t see this every day but the heart-throb of the sixties, Dharmendra, now a dad of two Bollywood hunks Sunny and Bobby Deol, walked the fashion ramp in New York, all for an important cause – the fight against cancer, which was initiated by his good friend Sunil Dutt when he lost his beautiful wife Nargis to the disease in 1981. She was the iconic star of the Hindi film industry and shortly after her death; Dutt started the Nargis Dutt Memorial Foundation with the help of friends in New York. It was sad that cancer claimed yet another family member, Richa Sharma Dutt, wife of his son Sanjay Dutt.
This year Kailash Sharma, father of Richa, is the president of Nargis Dutt Memorial Foundation, and along with his wife and daughters, he was there with other board members to ensure the success of this 28th gala. Bollywood actress Pooja Batra also walked the ramp along with a bevy of models who showcased the beautiful sarees and fusion wear designed by New York designer Sahil, with interludes of a Broadway style revue choreographed by Rujuta Vaidya.
Sunil Dutt had always been there for the Nargis Dutt fundraising dinners – with his passing in 2005, that’s one less link with the past. There were emotional moments with Trishala, the daughter of Richa Sharma, all grown up, and with Dharmendra, a good friend of Sunil Dutt, taking the stage. He spoke from the heart, and his few words said it all.
For the Sharma family, it is a very personal crusade, having lost daughter Richa to the disease. Her two sisters Abha Sharma and Enna Sharma raised over $60,000 and the funds will go to a cancer project in India in memory of their sister. Over the years the foundation has provided $ 5 million in cancer care medical equipment to India, and sponsored physicians from India to come to the US for advanced training.
1 Comment
Lavina,
Great article. I remember once you had written about my sister Rich before. Nice to see that journalists like yourself are still around. First article I have read on the Internet which is so accurate.