In Bollywood, he is known to be bighearted. So Salman Khan’s
benevolent moves hardly come as a surprise. But the superstar — for some
time now — has been helping his ex-girlfriend Somy Ali run her
Florida-based non-profit-organisation, No More Tears (NMT).
The American foundation that rescues women from domestic abuse has
been “struggling financially” for a while, and Somy is strictly reliant
on private donors and government funding. “But the grants have not come
through due to the state of the economy. Our country is struggling as a
whole,” says Somy. So private donors are really pivotal for NMT’s
sustainability at the moment.”
That’s where Salman enters the picture. Somy maintains that her
ex-boyfriend and his friends “have done more than enough” for NMT.
Somy Ali
“It’s only due to their donations that we have sustained this far,”
says the 35-year-old former actor. Apparently, Salman’s friends donated
more than $1,50,000 to NMT last year.
“Some of his friends have contributed, but they choose to remain
anonymous and I respect them for it,” confirms Somy. “Salman doesn’t owe
me anything. The fact that he has encouraged his friends to donate is
proof of his large heartedness. Personally, I would never ask him for
help. Probably that’s why we have been friends for 20 years. We respect
each other, but don’t expect anything in return.”
At the same time, Somy accepts that NMT, founded around four years ago, is “hanging by a thread.”
“Initially, I used $2,86,000 of my own money to fund my charity, but
those funds have now depleted. So it is a daily struggle,” says Somy,
who acted in films like Andolan (1995), Yaar Gaddar (1994), and Aao Pyar
Karen (1994).
Ask Somy — who has rescued 182 victims since 2008 — if she intends to
team up with Salman’s Being Human foundation, and she says: “No (plans)
so far. Salman and my missions are different.” Lastly, does she watch
Salman’s films? “No, I really do not get time to keep up with films due
to NMT. Abuse has no days off and neither do I,” she says.
