Deepika Padukone is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Hindi films. She is India's highest-paid actress, as of 2023, and her accolades include three Filmfare Awards. She features in listings of the nation's most popular personalities; Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018 and awarded her the Time100 Impact Award in 2022.
The Acid Survivors Foundation is a Bangladeshi non-governmental organisation dedicated to raising awareness and preventing acid attacks and providing survivors with medical and legal aid.
The Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) is an Indian non-profit organisation founded in 1989 to protect the fundamental human rights and civil liberties of the most marginalised and vulnerable members of society. Working on the intersection of law, advocacy, policy, and education, HRLN is organised as a collective of lawyers and social activists dedicated to providing legal assistance to vulnerable and disadvantaged individuals, advocating for the implementation of structures to safeguard human rights and fight systemic oppression, and educating the public on their rights and remedies. HRLN provides pro bono legal services to marginalised groups, conducts investigations into human rights violations, and undertakes high-stakes impact litigation in service of the public interest. The organisation operates across the spectrum of public interest law, focusing specifically on children’s rights, rights of disabled persons, rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, prisoners' rights, refugee rights, rights of indigenous people, workers' rights, rights of minorities, and the protection of victims of sexual violence or trafficking.
Vikrant Massey is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi films and television. Noted for his versatility, Massey is the recipient of a Filmfare Award.
The CNN–News18 Indian of the Year is an award presented annually to various Indians for their work in their respective fields by the Indian media house CNN–News18. The awards are presented in various categories of Politics, Sports, Business, Entertainment, Public Service and Global Indian. The idea of the award was originated by journalists: Rajdeep Sardesai and Sagarika Ghose.
Meghna Gulzar is an Indian writer, director and producer. She is best known for directing critically acclaimed films; Talvar (2015) and Raazi (2018). Born to Gulzar and actress Raakhee, Gulzar joined her father as an assistant to his films and became a screenwriter for her father's 1999 directorial Hu Tu. Meghna later became an independent director and directed her first film, the drama Filhaal... (2002), though she did not achieve directorial success that decade.
An acid attack, also called acid throwing, vitriol attack, or vitriolage, is a form of violent assault involving the act of throwing acid or a similarly corrosive substance onto the body of another "with the intention to disfigure, maim, torture, or kill". Perpetrators of these attacks throw corrosive liquids at their victims, usually at their faces, burning them, and damaging skin tissue, often exposing and sometimes dissolving the bones. Acid attacks can lead to permanent partial or complete blindness.
Chennai Express is a 2013 Indian masala film directed by Rohit Shetty and produced by UTV Motion Pictures and Red Chillies Entertainment. It stars Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and with Nikitin Dheer and Sathyaraj in supporting roles. The film revolves around Rahul Mithaiwala, a businessman who accidentally boards the eponymous train and journeys from Mumbai to Rameswaram with the daughter of an influential crimeboss.
Alok Dixit is a journalist turned social activist, fighting for freedom of Internet in India. He is the founder member of Save Your Voice, a movement against Internet censorship in India and Stop Acid Attacks, a campaign against acid violence.
Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, also simply known as Ram-Leela, is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language romantic tragedy film written and directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who also composed its original soundtrack. The film was jointly produced by Bhansali and Eros International's Kishore Lulla and stars Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh in lead roles with Priyanka Chopra making a special appearance in the song "Ram Chahe Leela". The supporting cast includes Supriya Pathak, Richa Chadda, Sharad Kelkar, Gulshan Devaiah, Barkha Bisht Sengupta, and Abhimanyu Singh. Based on the tragedy Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Ram-Leela narrates the star-crossed romance between the two eponymous lovers from two gangster families, who fall in love with each other, but are forced to separate due to their families' centuries old rivalry.
Indian actress Deepika Padukone primarily appears in Hindi films. Her first screen appearance was in Himesh Reshammiya's music video "Naam Hai Tera" in 2005. Padukone made her film debut by playing the title role in the Kannada-language film Aishwarya (2006). Her first Hindi film release came the following year with Farah Khan's melodrama Om Shanti Om, in which she played dual roles opposite Shah Rukh Khan. She won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut for it. Her sole film role in 2008 was as one of Ranbir Kapoor's love interests in Bachna Ae Haseeno. Padukone's first film release of 2009, the kung fu comedy Chandni Chowk to China, proved to be a box office flop, but her next release, Imtiaz Ali's romance Love Aaj Kal, opposite Saif Ali Khan, was a success. Of Padukone's five film releases in 2010, only the comedy Housefull was financially profitable. The series of poorly received films continued with both her 2011 releases, Aarakshan and Desi Boyz.
Reshma Qureshi is an Indian model, vlogger, and anti-acid activist. Her foray into modeling in the United States came when she walked the catwalk for Archana Kochhar at the 2016 New York Fashion Week.
Make Love Not Scars is an Indian nonprofit organisation based in New Delhi. The organisation works with acid-attack survivors and was founded by Ria Sharma. Tania Singh is the C.E.O of Make Love Not Scars. It assists with the complete rehabilitation of acid attack survivors, including providing survivors with financial, legal and educational help. As of November 6, 2016, the organisation had helped approximately 70 survivors across India. The NGO has recently been under scanner for collecting funds and not forwarding them to the victims.
Ria Sharma is a social activist and the first Indian to receive the UNICEF Global Goals Awards for 2017.
Swati Maliwal is a social activist and politician. She currently serves as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha representing Delhi. She participated in the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement led by social activist Anna Hazare and later, served as the chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) from 2015 to 2024.
Chhapaak (transl. Splash) is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language biographical drama film based on the life of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal. Directed by Meghna Gulzar, the film stars Deepika Padukone in leading role of a character inspired by Agarwal alongside Vikrant Massey and Madhurjeet Sarghi. It marked Padukone's production debut, and acting comeback after two years since Padmaavat (2018). The film was jointly backed by Fox Star Studios, Ka Productions, Avernus Productions and Mriga Films.
Sangita Magar is a Nepalese woman who became an activist for victims' rights after surviving an acid attack. She and a friend were attacked when she was 16, but managed to take her SLC exam 25 days later. She subsequently fought to change laws pertaining to victims of such attacks and to the unregulated sale of acid.
On 5 January 2020, more than 50 masked people armed with rods, sticks and acid attacked the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, and injured more than 39 students and teachers. Many students received serious injuries. Professors who tried to intervene and protect the students, as well as ambulances carrying injured individuals, were attacked. Eyewitnesses stated that police within the campus did not intervene to stop the mob. After attacking residents of the university campus for three hours, the mob escaped; none of its members was arrested or detained. All 36 students who were injured and admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi (AIIMS) were discharged within 24 hours.
Pragya Prasun is an Indian activist who survived an acid attack and set up the Atijeevan Foundation. The organisation has supported more than 250 other survivors and in 2019, she received the Nari Shakti Puraskar awarded the Government of India in recognition of her work.
The Chhanv Foundation is a non-governmental organization (NGO) set up by Alok Dixit and Ashish Shukla in 2013 in order to help the survivors of acid attacks. It runs cafés known under the social enterprise Sheroes Hangout in Agra, Lucknow and Noida which works for the rehabilitation and employment of acid attack survivors. The NGO received the Nari Shakti Puraskar and in 2020 stated it had helped over 100 survivors of acid attacks.
