Pune: He is a great fan of many Bollywood stars, but he holds late Raj Kapoor in high esteem. He lives his life on a famous statement ‘The show must go on’ made by the greatest showman. But this showman is made out of a different cut and it wouldn’t be an exageration to say he is Pune’s greatest showman.

Manjett Singh Virddi, an eminent social worker-cum-businessman radiates joy around to underprivileged strata of the society, particularly to orphaned, physical handicap and terminally ill patients. The most remarkable social commitment to this date is when he himself sponsored movie tickets for the deprived children to watch Hritik Roshan’s ‘Koi Mil Gaya’ and Ajay Devgun’s ‘The Legend of Bhagat Singh’. He also organized a special screening for politicians and army personnel for Raveena Tondon’s ‘Satta’ and JP Dutta’s blockbuster ‘LoC’.

Ask him why doee he conducts these shows especially for kids, Manjett says, “I want to do my bit for the society. I want to give something back in return for whatever goodies life has given me.”

“These kids live in a dark world. Everyonelooks down on them. But no one understands their entertainment needs. They like to watch movies like other kids. They have their own stars whom they idiolize,” Manjett adds.

Manjett sends few buses for picking up students from their respective schools or organizations and then assemble them at Inox multiplex theatre. The volunteers take care of them throughout the journey and seta them in the theatre. During the interval kids are given wafers, popcorn, tea, coffee and ice cream. They are given a ’send-off gift’ of a box of chocolates to all invited children and dropped back to their respective locations.

Manjett, like any other philanthropist, has been doing his rounds of social work in the form of donations, raising funds for the deprived by organizing programmes and helping them to earn their livelihood.

While carrying ot this task, he set up Manjett Singh Virddi Foundation for spearing the cause of social and cultural organization. “My mother was a very spiritual lady. She was so happy with the name of my foundation that she told ‘now you will not cheat people in the name of social work because the foundation is in your name. You wouldn’t do anything to spoil your name’,” Manjett said.

Proud owner of his family run business Modern Aartz, Manjett has been toiling hard ever since he was an adoloscent. “Being the only son in the family, I had to assume the responsibility of shipping my family business to greater distance. It was a tough period. Initially my mother assumed the reins before I took over from her,” he reminisces.

A Nuss Wadia alumnus, Manjett is gifted with different abilities. Know for smart and hunky looks, he dabbled in modelling and acting. He, in fact, acted in two television serials ‘Bandh File’ and Jazbaat’, telecasted on Doordarshan’s national hookup. He also played a very small character in ‘Saibaba’. He modeled for print ads of local fashion boutiques.

What did he take up this noble cause of social work? Manjett says, “One night when I was returning from an hectic modelling session, my mother asked me why was he earning extra money for himself.” She said, “Why don’t you share this money with the deprived sections?’ “These words changed my life for better.”

For all his social commitments, he has nearly 64 awards and trophies to his credit displayed at his shop. Prominent among them are Bharat Ratna Rajeev Gandhi award in 2005. The Best Social Worker award bestowed on him by several social and charity organizations. Recently, he met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and highlighted his philanthropic activities carried out by him.