UAE: Indian movie star's fans donate blood to celebrate his birthday

More than 300 people in the UAE participated in blood donation campaigns organised by Malayalam actor Mammootty's fans. This is part of a global initiative to get 25,000 people in 18 countries to donate blood in time for the actor's 72nd birthday on Thursday, September 7.

"We want to mark the birthday of our hero in a manner that benefits a lot of people," said Safeed Mohammed, one of the organisers of the event in the UAE. "We kicked off this campaign last week with a blood donation campaign in Australia."

In the UAE, the camps were held in three emirates over three weeks. "We wanted to make sure everyone got a chance to participate," said Safeed. "So, we held camps in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Dubai."

The last camp was held on Thursday at Lulu Hypermarket in Qusais. Hundreds of people turned up to donate their blood at the location. "The crowd was so huge that we had to turn several people away," said Ahmed Shameem, who helped coordinate the blood donation camps. "We had over 100 people who donated. Towards the end, we only accepted those with Rh-negative blood groups."

Predominantly acting in the Malayalam film industry, Mammootty has a stellar career spanning over five decades, during which he has acted in over 400 films in various languages. Having won several top accolades in India, he is considered one of the finest actors in the country. For his contributions to cinema, he was awarded India's fourth-highest civilian award, the Padma Shri, in 1998.

Cinema lovers unite

Filipino nationals Angela and Christine were first introduced to the actor and his movies by their colleague. "We have a colleague named Rajeeb who first showed us some Mammootty movies," said Christine. "Since then, we have followed him on the news and watched bits and pieces of his movies with English subtitles. This is the second year that we are coming to donate blood on his birthday."

• Joe Jonas faces backlash amid divorce from Sophie Turner