Ace bollywood actor Atul Kulkarni was recently in UK to promote his India based NGO – Quest. Rahul Laud reports
Bollywood’s bundle of talent – actor and producer Atul Kulkarni visited UK recently to showcase his recently released Marathi film Rajwade and Sons and raise awareness and funds for Quest. Organised by the charity organisations Friends of Quest UK and NORWEMA , screening of this new hit Marathi film ‘Rajwade and Sons’ was held in different parts of the UK – Birmingham , Leicester, New Castle, Bournemouth, Glasgow and in Manchester. Charity dinners were hosted in Liverpool and London.
This critically acclaimed movie enthralled the audience in UK . Being subtitled in English the younger generation in UK was able to equally enjoy the film with their Marathi speaking adults. The audience also had a chance to interact with Atul after the screening which made them happy as Atul agreed to allow them take selfies with him.
For whom and why was Atul raising funds here? Liverpool based Dr
Milind Shrotri explained, “Friends of QUEST is a UK based charity which
was set up in April 2013 in North- West of England by Anupama Shrotri,
Aniruddha Kaprekar and himself. This project was inspired by interaction
with Atul Kulkarni following his visit to Cardif where the European Marathi
Sammelan was held.”
During his visit in UK, Atul Kulkarni who is the chairman of this charity organisation explained, “Trust (QUEST) was formed in 2007 in Thane district in the state of Maharashtra, India, as a research action organisation concentrating on enhancing quality of education, by a group of educationists and animators active in the field of education.
The purpose of this was to bridge thegap between practical and theoretical
work undertaken in the field of education.The scope of this learning sharing
group has been broadened into an action group, which makes QUEST a research-action organisation, concentrating on enhancing
quality of education.”
Working in the field of Elementary Education QUEST’s mission is – Quality Education to Every Individual. Various projects have included
‘Educate a child’ and ‘Sponsor a Balbhavan’. Benefit to children have
included: Enrolling more students for basic school education in tribal areas;
Buying text books for children; Buying teaching aids for Balmitra (teachers); Building a reading library for the underprivileged children; Setting up educational research projects to inculcate innovation.
Atul’s visit was successful as his visit and intermingling with his fans, well wishers helped him raise funds for Quest. He did not miss to enjoy some scrumptious Mumbai street food and accepted request from Cheadle based Aamchi Mumbai in Manchester who hosted a dinner in his honour. Sandeep Gursahani the cofounder who was joined with his wife and business partner Suresh Ruia on the occasion said at Aamchi we were glad to serve him some of our best kababs, wada paav, chaats, and other delicacies.
