By Smita Ram, Rang De Team

…and boy we are glad that the two celebrities who are associated with Rang De are doers! Our first celebrity endorser – Waheeda Rehman was a pleasant surprise – she went out of her way – as far as accompanying us for a field trip to understand how microcredit works. It is not every day that we have celebrities signing up for field trips.

A few months down the line, a chance meeting with Nagesh Kukunoor led to few more meetings and now we have him as our Brand Ambassador. What happened in those couple of meetings that got Nagesh interested? Well, the current microfinance crisis had impacted Nagesh as much it has done to all of us at Rang De. When we explained to him the Rang De model, there was an instant connect.

All this happened in the last one month. But it feels like we have known him for long…such has been the interaction. The first thing that Nagesh mentioned when he decided to become our brand ambassador was about contributing actively and not just stop at lending his name.

We agreed to organise an event at Lamakaan in Hyderabad to officially announce Nagesh’s association with Rang De. For an event that had very little publicity and on a day that rained heavily, 80 people turned up at Lamakaan at 7.00 pm. No prizes for guessing who the crowd puller was!

Ram and I along with Aishwarya (president of the Rang De Hyderabad Chapter) and the rest of the Hyderabad chapter were there at the event and it was heartening to interact and get to know a celebrity who walks the talk.

Well Nagesh is not just endorsing Rang De but is also a social investor on Rang De. We are looking forward to working together on a host of events and initiatives to create awareness about low cost microcredit and Rang De, and of course about how you can be a part of it.

More links showcasing Nagesh’s presence in the event :

• Video on Youtube -  Nagesh talks to a reporter from The New Indian Express
• Facebook Photos – An Evening with Nagesh Kukunoor
• Rang De Investor Profile – Nagesh Kukunoor