KMC gets donation worth Rs 51 lakh from alumnus Big B for auditorium

The Frank Thakurdas Memorial Auditorium of Kirori Mal College has been in a shambles for years now. The stage, which has nurtured the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Satish Kaushik and Kabir Khan, among many others, has been in a dilapidated state due to pending renovation work at the auditorium. In December, Dinesh Khattar, the college’s acting principal, along with Keval Arora, the staff advisor of The Players, the theatre society of KMC, went to Mumbai to meet alumni to raise funds for the auditorium.
(L-R) KMC’s alumni Zeeshan Ayyub Khan, Kabir Khan and Samir Singh were present at the meet
A fundraiser was recently organized in Mumbai by the college’s alumnus and actor Satish Kaushik. He told us, "It was a great evening. It was overwhelming to see the alumni of the college, and all those who were part of The Players. Jitni power Players ki hai, woh apne mein hi ek film institute hai. Our dream to renovate the auditorium seems possible now. Ab lagta hai, sab sahi ho jayega."
(L-R) Vijay Krishna Acharya, Ali Abbas Zafar and Indresh Mallik were also present at the fundraiser
Amitabh Bachchan, an alumnus of the college, who was also a member of the theatre society, was the first one to contribute for the auditorium. "He donated Rs 51 lakh and kick-started the donation campaign. He did not want us to announce the contribution while he was present at the event. He also plans to visit KMC for the alumni meet. He will also recite verses from Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s Madhushala at the meet," said Dinesh Khattar.
Himanshu Sharma and Anant Vidhaat Sharma
Keval Arora, the man behind the project, was not present at the event. Vijay Krishna Acharya, the director of 'Dhoom 3' and who was also present at the meet, credits his success to Keval Arora. "Since Keval Arora was busy working with the present batch of The Players, he could not attend the meet. Many, including Vijay Krishna Acharya credited his success to Keval," told the principal.

In previous DT stories, we reported how KMC’s audi, despite producing talent like the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Satish Kaushik, Kabir Khan and others, has been in a dilapidated state.