Aishwarya Khare, who is all set to essay the lead role of Lakshmi in Bhagya Lakshmi, has found a unique way to prepare for her character. Aishwarya reached out to some truly exceptional Covid-19 heroes from across India who resonate with her character Lakshmi’s selfless spirit.
During her search for such heroes, Lakshmi came across Javed Khan from Bhopal, Abhishek Gupta of Lucknow, Harsh and his mother Heena Mandavia of Mumbai, and Sourav and his mother Lakshmi Das from Delhi. The actress spoke to them in great lengths about their selfless journeys.
Javed Khan is an autorickshaw driver, who transformed his auto-rickshaw into a free ambulance to transport COVID patients. Javed told Aishwarya that he has to sell his wife’s jewelry in order to help others. Lucknow’s Abhishek Gupta helped conduct the final rites of several deceased COVID patients along with his friends. Abhishek and his friends volunteered to chip in at their own expense, putting their own lives at risk.
Talking about her experience of meeting all these COVID Heroes, Aishwarya shared, “Since my childhood, we’ve always read about or watched superheroes like Superman, Spiderman, Shaktiman in awe. But during a crisis like the COVID pandemic, it was gems like Javed, Abhishek, Harsh and Sourav who devoted all their time to help people in need. I feel these are the real heroes that we must look up to and try to imbibe some of their selfless traits. After hearing their stories, main karti hoon #NekiParYakeen and I feel deeply connected with Lakshmi’s selfless journey and that being kind to others is a way of life for some of these ‘real-life Lakshmis’ that I met as a part of my preparation for the role. Now I truly believe that every covid warrior’s journey is quite similar to Lakshmi’s life where the thought is simple: Neki kar dariya mein daal. I am really delighted to see how their efforts have paid off and brought them so many blessings from people around them. I just hope their stories inspire many more people just the way they inspired me, I sincerely believe that we need many more people as such in our country.”
Aishwarya also gifted the COVID Heroes with a Lakshmi Murti as a token of appreciation for their time and efforts in helping the needy in these tough times.