Famed Bollywood director Anurag Kashyap has decided to auction his 'Gangs of Wasseypur' Filmfare award to the highest bidder. The money generated will go to a charity to buy RT-PCR kits to test the public for COVID-19. RT-PCR kits are the fastest confirmatory test kits in India, manufactured by a local company.

Kashyap was responding to the call put out by Comedian Kunal Kamra on Twitter, who has announced to auction his 'Golden Youtube Button' for the cause. In a Twitter post, Kamra wrote:

"We need more RT-PCR kits. This is the fastest confirmatory test kit in India. Mylab is an Indian company making it at 0 profit. I've adopted a kit that costs Rs 1,34,000/- for my home city Mumbai. You can do the same, I'm giving my Youtube button away to [the] highest donor, I urge all artists to give away their prized possessions towards charity in such difficult times. While every penny counts, the highest donor will get the button. Email your donation screenshots to [email protected]."

Donation link - https://t.co/xm5mNd2qDZ pic.twitter.com/1PxsZRqyy8

— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) May 20, 2020

Responding to Kamra's call, Kashyap has decided to auction the original trophy for the Filmfare critics award best film 2013. He won the trophy for his film 'Gangs of Wasseypur'. In a tweet he wrote:

" [The] highest bidder gets the original trophy for the Filmfare critics award best film 2013. “Gangs of Wasseypur”..."

Highest bidder gets the original trophy for the Filmfare critics award best film 2013 . “Gangs of Wasseypur”... https://t.co/BtXrUQAJ7C

— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) May 20, 2020

Lyricist Varun Grover has also decided to auction his TOIFA trophy he won for 'Moh moh k dhagay' in 2015. In a tweet he said:

"Adding the TOIFA trophy I won for 'Moh Moh Ke Dhaage' (DLKH, 2015) for a charity auction to raise funds for COVID test kits. Putting it up on eBay in 2050 was my retirement fund plan but I believe now is a better time to use it to secure India's future."

Adding the TOIFA trophy I won for 'Moh Moh Ke Dhaage' (DLKH, 2015) for charity auction to raise funds for Covid test kits.

Putting it up on ebay in 2050 was my retirement fund plan but i believe now is a better time to use it to secure India's future. https://t.co/t0Q6YJMCkg https://t.co/2xqDEakmKA pic.twitter.com/hu6Yig2G7p

— ???? 🇮🇳 (@varungrover) May 20, 2020

Famed director Neeraj Ghaywan has also announced to auction his TOIFA Best Debut Director for Indo-French drama Massan, Filmfare Best Film for Juice, and his signed copy of the jury prize at Cannes Film festival.

"I am offering my awards for a charity auction to raise funds for COVID test kits. - TOIFA Best Debut Director (Masaan) - Filmfare Best Film (Juice) - Signed copy of the jury prize- ‘Prix de l’Avenir’ (Masaan) that I won at Cannes Film festival, 2015."

I am offering my awards for a charity auction to raise funds for COVID test kits.

- TOIFA Best Debut Director (Masaan)
- Filmfare Best Film (Juice)
- Signed copy of the jury prize- ‘Prix de l’Avenir’ (Masaan) that I won at Cannes Film festival, 2015.

(Details in the tweet👇🏼) https://t.co/mIZ7vBzuaO pic.twitter.com/RZJqlu0VkE

— Neeraj Ghaywan (@ghaywan) May 21, 2020

Write and poet Javed Akhtar has announced to auction personalized signed copy of 'In other words' top help buy testing kits, shared Kunal on Twitter:
"The very kind & legendary @Javedakhtarjadu pledges to give a personalized signed copy of one of his favorite books, ‘In Other Words’. Every penny counts. Whoever is bidding for this please send your bid to [email protected]."

The very kind & legendary @Javedakhtarjadu pledges to give a personalised signed copy of one of his favourite books, ‘In Other Words’. Every penny counts. Whoever is bidding for this please send you bid to [email protected]

Link to donate - https://t.co/xm5mNd2qDZ pic.twitter.com/syuJliKsls

— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) May 20, 2020

There are currently 112,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in India with 3,435 deaths.