I Am No Messiah

Last updated
I Am No Messiah
I Am No Messiah front cover.jpg
Front cover
Author Sonu Sood
Meena Iyer
CountryIndia
LanguageEnglish
PublisherPenguin publishers
Publication date
December 2020
Media typeprint
Pages215
ISBN 0143451987

I Am No Messiah is a memoir written by Indian actor and social worker Sonu Sood, and co-written by Meena Iyer. [1] The book was first released in December 2020 by Penguin publishers. [2] In 2020, Sonu Sood, during the COVID-19 lockdown in India, helped thousands of stranded migrant workers, students etc. to return home, and was dubbed as "Messiah of migrants" for his work. In this autobiographical book he chronicled his experiences, and also narrated his journey from Moga to Mumbai, and his struggle in Bollywood and in South India to become an actor. [3] [4]

Contents

Synopsis

In this book Sonu Sood narrates his journey from being an actor to a dedicated and altruistic social worker. In this book, he narrates the story of his life in details. He was born in a Punjabi family in Moga. He did his schooling in Moga and completed his engineering in Nagpur. After that instead of becoming an engineer he decided to try his luck as an actor. Initially he takes a job in Delhi for a few months. Then he moves to Mumbai and his life as a struggling actor begins. After several years of struggle, he manages to get a break in a Tamil film. After the film became successful gradually he gets offers from Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and later Hindi films.

In mid-2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown in India (first wave), Sood helped thousands of stranded Indian migrant workers to reach their homes. He named this mission Ghar Bhejo (transl.Sending back to home). He and his team arranged buses, special trains, and chartered flights to send the migrant labourers.

On 15 April 2020, around twenty days after the first lockdown started in India, Sood went to Kalwa Chowk, in Thane to provide food, drinking water, sanitisers etc. to the stranded migrant workers. A few people there asked him if they could be given more than one food packet. After inquiring he quickly understood the reason that the labourers were actually starting their journey of hundreds of kilometers to Karnataka and other states by walk (as there was no other option to travel during the lockdown). At this moment he understood that just handing over food packets, or sanitisers was not enough. That day he could send off 350 people to Karnataka, however there were thousands of others around waiting for help. That's how he started him mission and gradually he rediscovered himself as a humanitarian.

As he continues to work on the Ghar Bhejo initiative, he and his team understand there was a lot more work to be done. In the book, he also narrates other initiatives which they started gradually such as helping farmers, or helping poor people to get medical services or to undergo surgeries etc.

Controversy

After the publication of the book, Sonu Sood was trolled for the title of the book. [5] In the first few days, there were many negative reviews on Amazon criticising the book as "ghostwritten". Some others told that Sood was trying to establish himself as a "messiah", although he had no such title officially. Very soon Amazon turned off reviewing option for this book citing "unusual reviewing activity". [6] Sood denied the accusations stating that those were "paid trolls". [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonu Sood</span> Indian actor

Sonu Sood is an Indian actor, film producer, model, humanitarian, and philanthropist who works predominantly in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada films. In 2009, he received the Andhra Pradesh State Nandi Award for Best Villain and the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Telugu for his work in the Telugu blockbuster Arundhati. In 2010, he garnered the Apsara Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role and the IIFA Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role for his performance in Bollywood film Dabangg. In 2012, he received the SIIMA Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role (Telugu) for his role in Julayi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aasif Sheikh</span> Indian actor

Aasif Sheikh is an Indian film, stage, and television artist. He played the role of Prince Ajay Singh in Hum Log. He has appeared in numerous Bollywood films and TV serials. He acted in the TV series Yes Boss which ran from 1999 to 2009 and sitcom Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain!.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali Asgar (actor)</span> Indian actor and stand-up comedian

Ali Asgar is an Indian actor and stand-up comedian. He has appeared in many Indian TV serials and movies. Asgar appeared as Kamal Agarwal in Star Plus TV show Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki. He also appeared in SAB TV's show F.I.R. as Inspector Raj Aryan. He is commonly known for his role in Colors TV show Comedy Nights with Kapil as Dadi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shweta Kawatra</span> Indian actress

Shweta Kawatra is an Indian actress, model and television presenter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arjan Bajwa</span> Indian actor (born 1979)

Arjan Bajwa is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi and Telugu films. He is credited as Deepak in Telugu films where he started his career. He made a breakthrough in Bollywood with the critically acclaimed 2007 film Guru after debuting in the 2004 Hindi film Woh Tera Naam Tha. He played the male lead in 2008 film Fashion for which he received the Stardust Award for Breakthrough Performance.

<i>Dabangg</i> 2010 film directed by Abhinav Kashyap

Dabangg (transl. Fearless) is a 2010 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed by Abhinav Singh Kashyap and produced by Malaika Arora Khan and Arbaaz Khan under Arbaaz Khan Productions with Dhilin Mehta under Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision. Khan's elder brother Salman Khan stars in the lead role, with Sonakshi Sinha in her acting debut; Arbaaz, Om Puri, Dimple Kapadia, Vinod Khanna, Anupam Kher, Mahesh Manjrekar and Mahie Gill featuring in supporting roles, while Sonu Sood plays the main antagonist. The film marks the debut of Arbaaz as a producer and Kashyap as a director. Malaika appears in the item number "Munni Badnaam Hui".

<i>Bbuddah... Hoga Terra Baap</i> 2011 Indian film

Bbuddah... Hoga Terra Baap is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film written and directed by Puri Jagannadh in his second Hindi film after Shart: The Challenge. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Sonu Sood, and Prakash Raj in the lead roles, while Sonal Chauhan, Charmy Kaur, Rajeev Verma, Subbaraju, and Makrand Deshpande play supporting roles, and Raveena Tandon in a guest appearance. The music of the film was composed by Vishal–Shekhar with cinematography by Amol Rathod and editing by S. R. Shekhar.

<i>Shootout at Wadala</i> 2013 film directed by Sanjay Gupta

Shootout at Wadala is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language biographical-gangster-crime film written and directed by Sanjay Gupta. The film stars John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut, Tusshar Kapoor, Manoj Bajpayee and Sonu Sood. It is a prequel to the 2007 film Shootout at Lokhandwala.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kartik Aaryan</span> Indian actor (born 1990)

Kartik Aaryan Tiwari, is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. After pursuing a degree in engineering, he made his acting debut with Luv Ranjan's buddy film Pyaar Ka Punchnama (2011). He went on to star in the romances Akaash Vani (2013) and Kaanchi (2014), but these failed to propel his career forward.

<i>R... Rajkumar</i> 2013 film by Prabhu Deva

R... Rajkumar is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language action film written and directed by Prabhu Deva. The film stars Shahid Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha and Sonu Sood. Despite a mixed-to-negative reception, the film was a box office success with a worldwide gross of 100 crore (US$13 million).

<i>Entertainment</i> (2014 film) 2014 Hindi film directed by Sajid-Farhad

Entertainment is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film written and directed by screenwriter duo Sajid-Farhad and produced by Ramesh S. Taurani under Tips Industries Limited banner. Based on an original story by K. Subash, the film stars Junior - The wonder dog as the titular protagonist and Akshay Kumar, along with Tamannaah, Mithun Chakraborty, Johnny Lever, Prakash Raj and Sonu Sood. The film was released on 8 August 2014. Receiving mixed reviews from critics, it became a commercial failure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bharat Chawda</span> Indian television actor

Bharat Chawda is an Indian television actor. He is best known for playing the role of Bobby Sood as Shraddha's husband in TV serial Meri Bhabhi on STAR Plus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aziz Naser</span>

Aziz Naser is an Indian actor, writer, voice artist and a director who works in Deccani and Telugu films. He worked in Hyderabadi films such as The Angrez and Hyderabad Nawabs. As a dubbing artist, he lent his voice for Sonu Sood, Nana Patekar, Kelly Dorjee, Aditya Pancholi, Rahul Dev and other Hindi film actors who featured in Telugu films.

<i>Paltan</i> (film) 2018 Indian Hindi language war film by J.P. Dutta

Paltan is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language action-war film written, directed and produced by J. P. Dutta, based on 1967 Nathu La and Cho La clashes along the Sikkim border after 1962 Sino-Indian War. It stars an ensemble cast with Jackie Shroff, Arjun Rampal, Sonu Sood, Harshvardhan Rane, Sonal Chauhan, Dipika Kakar and many more. The film was theatrically released on 7 September 2018.

<i>Samrat Prithviraj</i> 2022 Indian Hindi film by Chandraprakash Dwivedi

Samrat Prithviraj is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language historical action drama film directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi and produced by Yash Raj Films. The film is based on Prithviraj Raso, a Braj language epic poem about the life of Prithviraj Chauhan, a Rajput king from the Chahamana dynasty. It features Akshay Kumar as the titular character, while Manushi Chhillar makes her Hindi film debut playing the role of Sanyogita. The film also stars Sanjay Dutt, Sonu Sood, Manav Vij, Ashutosh Rana and Sakshi Tanwar in other pivotal roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 pandemic in Uttar Pradesh</span> Ongoing COVID-19 viral pandemic in Uttar Pradesh, India

COVID-19 Pandemic spread to Uttar Pradesh in March 2020. While the World Health Organization praised the UP government for its contact tracing efforts, there were several other issues in its management of the pandemic, including under reportage of cases by the government, vaccine shortages and dismal conditions of COVID-19 hospitals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 lockdown in India</span> Quarantine effort in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in India

On the evening of 24 March 2020, the Government of India ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, limiting the movement of the entire 1.38 billion population of India as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 pandemic in India. It was ordered after a 14-hour voluntary public curfew on 22 March, followed by enforcement of a series of regulations in the countries COVID-19 affected regions. The lockdown was placed when the number of confirmed positive coronavirus cases in India was approximately 500. Upon its announcement, a mass movement of people across the country was described as the largest since the partition of India in 1947. Observers stated that the lockdown had slowed the growth rate of the pandemic by 6 April to a rate of doubling every six days, and by 18 April, to a rate of doubling every eight days. As the end of the first lockdown period approached, state governments and other advisory committees recommended extending the lockdown. The governments of Odisha and Punjab extended the state lockdowns to 1 May. Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, and Telangana followed suit. On 14 April, Prime minister Narendra Modi extended the nationwide lockdown until 3 May, on the written recommendation of governors and lieutenant governors of all the states, with conditional relaxations after 20 April for the regions where the spread had been contained or was minimal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian migrant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic</span> Condition of migrant workers during the ongoing COVID-19 viral pandemic in India

Indian migrant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic have faced multiple hardships. With factories and workplaces shut down due to the lockdown imposed in the country, millions of migrant workers had to deal with the loss of income, food shortages and uncertainty about their future. Following this, many of them and their families went hungry. Thousands of them then began walking back home, with no means of transport due to the lockdown. In response, the Central and State Governments took various measures to help them, and later arranged transport for them. 198 migrant workers died due to the lockdown, with reasons of road accidents.

<i>1232 KMS</i> 2021 Indian film

1232 KMS is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language documentary film directed by Vinod Kapri. It chronicles the Indian migrant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the lockdown on them. The film was released on Disney+ Hotstar on 24 March 2021.

<i>India Lockdown</i> 2022 film by Madhur Bhandarkar

India Lockdown is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Madhur Bhandarkar and produced by Pen India Limited along with Bhandarkar Entertainment. The film stars an ensemble cast of Shweta Basu Prasad, Aahana Kumra, Prateik Babbar, Sai Tamhankar, Prakash Belawadi and Saanand Verma. The film is schedule for a world premiere at 52nd International Film Festival of India. The film was for a commercial released on ZEE5 on December 2, 2022. The movie deals with the repercussions of COVID-19 lockdown in India and how the people of the country struggled through it.

References