Help Raju Lal get a rickshaw!

I met Raju while walking around Delhi. He approached me and said he wasn’t looking for money - all he wanted was to practice his english.

We chatted as he guided me around. Recently his father, a policeman at a small village in Rajasthan, passed away, so he’d moved back in search of a better job. It wasn’t going well.

Raju asked me what I did and I told him that I’m a photographer and filmmaker. His face shone. “I acted in a film once,” he said, proudly. His eyes were full of emotion. “Oh, that’s cool. What sort of film?” I asked. “It was by an Italian director. Have you heard of Bernardo Bertolucci?” he replied. I laughed.

It turns out in 1992, at the age of 8 years old, Raju was found by a talent scout in a slum in Kathmandu. The man was in search of actors for Little Buddha, at the time Bertolucci’s latest film project, starring Chris Isaak, Bridget Fonda and Keanu Reeves, with the legendary Vittorio Storaro as DP.

Raju had a major role in the film and was taken on an international tour. For the Oscars, he was hosted in Beverly Hills, at George Hamilton’s house. He recalls going down Rodeo Drive and passerby’s calling out to him. In Rome, he stayed at Italian film producer Mr. Mario Cotone's home, who took him for a ride in his cherry red Ferrari. Earlier, I mistakenly wrote that this was British film producer Mr. Jeremy Thomas, who Raju also met and who, according to him, also owned or owns a red Ferrari. At any rate, it was a real-life rags to riches story. And then, like in all good tales, there came a twist.

Upon returning to India, Raju claims his agent dropped him, retaining part of his acting fee and cutting off all contact. Raju quickly went back to a life of poverty and 30 years later, after some up’s and many down’s, things are still looking rough.

Now, Raju's greatest dream is to own a rickshaw, in order to give his family some financial stability. The cost of this, including the licenses to operate, is approximately $8,000. Over the years he did his best to save this amount of money, but, alone, it just seems to be impossible. I convinced him that by sharing his story, people would surely help.

Please, join us on this mission of getting Raju back on his feet! Your contribution will aid not only him as well as all of his family and, hopefully, allow for a happy ending to this tale.