Bollywood stars pray for victims of Cyclone Phailin

New Delhi: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit, Akshay Kumar and other Bollywood celebrities took to Twitter to pray for the victims of Cyclone `Phailin`, which lashed parts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh last night.

Phailin, the worst storm in 14 years, which forced the evacuation of over 8 lakh people, left a trail of destruction in coastal areas of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh and disrupted communication lines before weakening considerably on Sunday. Bachchan took to the micro-blogging site to remember the victims in his prayers. "The fury of the God`s in cyclone Phailin. Be careful, beware and be protected... And be in prayer," the 71-year-old actor posted. Madhuri tweeted, "My prayers go out to all the people affected by cyclone Phailin. May God give them strength to overcome this ordeal." Akshay Kumar also expressed his concern for the people, saying, "My prayers with all those impacted by nature`s wrath. Hoping for calm in Odisha, sadly that`s all we can do at this moment. Phailin." Actor Anupam Kher said, "Every time nature shows its fury, fragility of our existence gets badly exposed. It makes importance of the word `I` so unimportant." Filmmaker Mira Nair, who was born in Rourkela, Odisha, also prayed for the people of her birth state. "Holding my breath about Phailin, prayers and courage for the people of my birthplace in Odisha. May nature`s fury be contained," she said. Producer Pritish Nandy and actor Boman Irani lauded the preparedness of the government and other agencies to handle the super storm. "Amazing how ready and well organised the Govt is this time with its disaster management plans for Phailin," Nandy tweeted. "Seems we were more prepared than usual. Even nature seems to respect that and in turn has been less brutal than expected," Irani posted.