What are Vivek Oberoi, Swara Bhaskar, Kalki Koechlin, Vir Das, Govind Namdev doing together?

The celebrities ask a very important question. It will make you think. But will it make you act??

Your heart cries when an Army Jawan loses his life on the border. Yet, you remain indifferent to the thousands of traffic cops who risk their lives to make your life convenient.

Did you know that…

- 59% of Traffic Cops have complaints of Thick Sputum

- 56% of Traffic Cops have been living with perennial Joint Pains

- 45% of Traffic Cops experience Shortness of Breath

To drive the message home, Vivek Oberoi, Kalki Koechlin, Vir Das, Swara Bhaskar & Govind Namdev came together in a hard-hitting video that makes you question your conduct towards traffic cops.

Made by iKarmik, a media house, in collaboration with GAIL for Hawa Badlo – a social awareness campaign that highlights the issue of air pollution; the video will force you to think hard. But will you act, is the question?

Vivek Oberoi said, “Firstly, I want to congratulate iKarmik & GAIL for the great work that has been done. I think nobody cares about traffic police, hawaldars ulta sab log unhe gaali dete hai (People abuse them) say things like are yaar mamu khada hai, abhi chaddhi paise maangega. They have zero respect for them.”
“All kinds of pollution go to their lungs, emitted from the vehicles and it equalizes to 40-50 packets of cigarettes per day, approximately. But, can you imagine what he is putting himself through? And, just so because you can have a little organization on the roads. And no respect for them is a very bad attitude for a society to have. So I was very happy that you guys (iKarmik& GAIL) are doing that, and I am always up for anything which is this good.”

“The conditions they have to work in are really deplorable. I can bet that none of us can do it for even a day!”– challenges Swara Bhaskar and tweets– ‘Salute to all those public servants who put their health at risk for our safety’.

Says Vir Das, “There is a perception issue amongst people today. You feel for the army jawan on the border, but not the traffic cop on the road. They are both putting their lives at risk. Hopefully, this video should change that!”

Karmik Varma of www.iKarmik.com, who has conceptualized, scripted and directed the video for GAIL, Hawa Badlo; shared how all the celebrities came together for this video, which was shot in 5 different locations.

“Since this is a non-commercial initiative, we were very pressed on budgets. All of them (celebrities) were very supportive. Swara was busy with her photo shoots and dubbing and she waited in hair and makeup until late night at her own place, just so we could reach and shoot the video. Vivek was super occupied with the promotions of Great Grand Masti, yet removed time and invited us over so he could be a part of this initiative. We shot Kalki at Famous Studios, hours before she was to leave for Bengaluru and then to the U.S.A directly for her super hit play. Vir, amidst preparing for his U.K. tour shot with us at his Bandra office while Govind Namdev Ji drove from Bhopal for 18 hours straight and faced the camera for us. Can’t thank them enough.”

In the video, celebrities ask that while we keep cursing the traffic policemen when they fine/challan us for not wearing a helmet, using mobiles while driving or jumping the signal; can we stop for a moment and admit that the fault lies with us only. We hate to admit this, but we tend to blame them what? For working with full dedication in every condition, for putting their health at risks? That too so our life functions smoothly? Are they that bad that they do not deserve fresh air to breathe in?

Watch the video here and tweet with #GiftAMask #HawaBadlo to lead the change.