Saif Ali Khan, Sonam Kapoor lead Bollywood in coronavirus awareness video. Watch

With the coronavirus pandemic rapidly spreading in India, eminent personalities from different fields came together for a video creating awareness about the preventive measures to control the spread of the virus.

Actors Saif Ali Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Ananya Panday, Boman Irani, Kajal Aggarwal and Sharman Joshi, singers Sonu Nigam, Shankar Mahadevan and Shaan, composer Ehsaan Noorani and designer Manish Malhotra featured in the public service announcement video. Politician Shashi Tharoor, cricketer Rahul Dravid, tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi, chefs Sanjeev Kapoor and Vikas Khanna also appeared in the clip.

In the video, the celebrities talked about the seriousness of the coronavirus crisis, calling it a “global war”, and appealed to people to remain indoors, maintain hygiene and practice social distancing.

The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in India have risen to 1637, with 38 deaths till now. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown in an effort to keep the transmission of the virus in check.

Meanwhile, the film and television industries have been severely hit by the coronavirus outbreak. With theatres across the country closed, releases are indefinitely stalled. All shooting and production activities have been completely halted, and there is a crunch in episodes of daily soaps.

Also read | Hema Malini washes clothes, waters plants in lockdown: ‘I feel very independent that I can do everything’

Trade analysts told Hindustan Times that Bollywood could face losses of more than Rs 1300 crore due to releases and shoots being stalled.

Daily wage workers of the film and television industries, including light boys, spot boys, set workers, sound assistants and junior artistes, have also been affected by the coronavirus outbreak. However, several big names from the industry, including Salman Khan and Ajay Devgn are contributing towards their immediate relief.

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