'Masaan' director Neeraj Ghaywan to donate National Award prize money towards relief work for Maharashtra farmers

Written By DNA Web Team | Updated: May 04, 2016, 12:53 PM IST

Director Neeraj Ghaywan attends a photocall for 'Masaan' during the 68th annual Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 2015 in Cannes, France

Neeraj Ghaywan and Varun Grover will donate Rs 1 Lakh towards relief work

Neeraj Ghaywan, whose movie Masaan won him the best debut director honour at the National Awards, has decided to donate some amount of his prize money towards relief work for distressed farmers in Maharashtra.

Posting on micro-blogging site, the director said that along with lyricist Varun Grover, who won the National Awards for Best Lyrics for the song 'Moh Moh Ke Dhage' from Dum Laga Ke Haisha, will donate Rs 1 lakh.

Me and @varungrover have decided to donate our National Award prize money towards relief work for distressed farmers in Maharashtra.
— Neeraj Ghaywan (@ghaywan) May 4, 2016

Out of the 1.25 Lakh prize money, I will donate 50,000. Together, me and @varungrover will donate 1 Lakh rupees.
— Neeraj Ghaywan (@ghaywan) May 4, 2016

To draw attention towards the pressing issue of agrarian crisis, Ghaywan decided to announce it on public forum.

Of course, it's a small amount, but my intent to make it public is to draw attention to agrarian crisis & encourage possible contributions.
— Neeraj Ghaywan (@ghaywan) May 4, 2016

President Pranab Mukherjee presented the 63rd National Awards, including best actor trophy to Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan, best actress to Kangana Ranaut and Dadasaheb Phalke award to Hindi film veteran Manoj Kumar.