Two Sundays ago, Amitabh Bachchan ? who has sold you everything from Chyawanprash to choco bars ? tried his hand at something different. Bachchan, at the head of a troupe of 60-odd Bollywood stars, sang away raucously in Awadhi. All for the victims of the December 26 tsunami that hit large parts of India and the world.

Bachchan was taking part in the ?Help Telethon Concert? at the Bandra-Kurla complex in Mumbai to raise money for the tsunami victims. And with people such as Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai taking the stage after him, the show culminated in a crescendo of dance and music. Rs 10 lakh were raised through viewers? SMS donations alone. Obviously, no one knows how to jazz up a charity night better than our desi showbiz icons.

But then, there are Bollywood stars and there are Bollywood stars. As the saga of charity auctions, celebrity cricket matches and fund-raising walks unfolds on TV, for the first time, others ? Rahul Bose and Vivek Oberoi to name just two ? have left the comforts of their plush homes to help with relief operations at Ground Zero. And getting their hands dirty was just the beginning.

?It was a question of whether I could really walk the talk,? says actor Rahul Bose, who first visited the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on New Year?s Eve. Bose has been actively involved with Solidarity Network, a loosely-knit group of 10-odd NGOs formed after the tsunami struck. ?When I saw the extent of the damage, I realised helping the victims was not just about doling out money or rations. It was essentially about giving them back their sense of respect,? he adds.

This realisation struck Bose as he toured the ravaged areas around Car Nicobar ? that there was more to charity than just a big cheque, or a fat wad of notes. Actor Suresh Oberoi, the father of Bollywood heartthrob Vivek Oberoi, echoes similar sentiments, remembering the night the tsunami?s horrors unfolded. ?Vivek was watching it on TV and after a point he came up to me and said, ?We just have to go?. In the end, my wife and I decided to join him too,? he says.

Pitching in with charisma for a cause is a tradition that goes back a few generations in Bollywood. Old-timers still remember Sunil Dutt?s Ajanta Arts, which went to perform with a troupe of artistes to the front during the 1962 and 1965 wars. An Amitabh Bachchan here, or an Aishwarya Rai there have advocated everything from communal harmony to contributions for flood relief. Even recently, during the Gujarat earthquake and the Kargil War, stars got together to organise gala shows to raise money for war heroes.

But this time round, the tsunami?s effect on stars has not quite been the same. There have been charity matches ? a Kapil Dev XI took on an Aamir Khan XI in end-January ? as well as walks to raise money. Sting has just performed in back-to-back concerts in Bangalore and Delhi. Palash Sen of Euphoria is planning a fund-raising concert in Jaipur with major South-Asian bands ? like Pakistan?s Junoon and Miles from Bangladesh ? taking the stage. But more and more stars want to actively participate in rebuilding the disaster sites. And each one of them says the idiot box stirred them into action.

?For three days I watched the bodies piling up, but then I decided that I?d had enough,? remembers Bose. And he, like so many others, plans to be there till the affected have been given back a normal life.

Nothing could have prepared the Oberois for Nagapattinam, India?s worst-hit district, which looked as if it had been put through a paper shredder. Vivek?s family had gone there with resources for just a few, but then decided to adopt the whole village of Devanampattinam of over 3,000 families on the Tamil Nadu coast. And the connection has endured since then. Vivek goes back and forth between home and his new interest.

For now the focus is on plans for long-term rehabilitation. ?The basic amenities are in place. What we are looking at now is rehabilitation which involves doctors, architects, teachers, urban planners ? and of course, a whole lot of coordination,? feels Shimul Kadri, an architect with the Solidarity Network.

And going into the badly-hit regions, the stars have a fair idea of what goods of daily use, apart from money, the villagers sorely need. For instance, Poonam Dhillon, who works with an NGO called Maddad, has decided to contribute with fishing nets and boats. ?Since we are concentrating on an area where people are mostly fishermen, we decided to help with something they?ll want everyday,? she says.

But a star?s action ? since it is always under the public gaze ? often cuts both ways. There?s the usual suspicion that charity is all about publicity. ?It?s unfortunate that out of 2,000 people working silently in a particular area, it?s the star whose integrity gets questioned.? says Dhillon, reacting sharply.

An icon?s involvement often comes with some strings attached ? the ?cause?, for instance, always has to be right. And it helps if the cause is a natural disaster or a war that allows the exhibition of national pride. Most stars prefer to give controversial matters a wide berth. ?Very few had bothered to offer any help during the Gujarat riots when women were being raped and whole areas being burnt. When pity is mixed with bigotry and prejudice, intentions become perverted,? feels writer and social activist Harsh Mander.

But the tsunami has been the start of a new chapter. ?It?s the combined guilt of mainland India that drove me to the Andamans, and when I was there I?ve heard this a number of times ? ?You?ve not remembered us for 50 years, please don?t forget us now?,? says Bose. The actor promises he won?t.