Sonu Sood, 46, Actor

Some clichés are true. The heart is the strongest muscle, at least in the case of Sonu Sood, who has made a career of playing the muscular strongman in movies. During the pandemic, ignoring advice from friends who suggested he start video masterclasses on physical fitness, he decided to reach out and help those in need. Starting with distributing food packets, he sent stranded migrants home by bus, and soon chartered a flight to send a large group of migrant workers from Kerala to their homes in Odisha. Even as public transport restrictions were lifted, he continued to help, whether it was two sisters in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh whose plough he replaced with a tractor so they could focus on education or helping veteran actor Anupam Shyam with hospital fees. His latest initiative, the Pravasi Rojgar app, is a free platform to help migrants find jobs. The son of a cloth store merchant and teacher from Moga, Sonu is an engineering graduate, one of many ‘outsiders’ who has made his mark across the Hindi and southern language industries, and perhaps shown more humanity than established superstars.

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