Movie buffs often associate filmmaking with luxury and glamour, but not many are aware of the unfortunate and terrible accidents that take place on the sets. Legendary actor Kamal Haasan’s upcoming action-thriller ‘Indian 2’ grabbed the headlines on Wednesday following a mishap that left 3 dead and 9 injured on the sets of the movie at EVP Film City in Chennai.
According to reports, director Krishna, art assistant Chandran and production assistant, Madhu, atop a crane, were checking the lights on the sets when it came crashing down, leaving them dead. Nine others were critically injured.
Actor Kamal Haasan had a miraculous escape as he was shooting somewhere else when the unfortunate incident took place.
However, this is not a lone incident.
Akshay Kumar’s ‘Kesari’, which was one of the highest-grossing Bollywood films of 2019, has its own unfortunate story behind the camera. The entire crew was just 10 to 12 days away from finishing the shoot when the sets caught fire and was burnt to ashes. Luckily, no one was injured in the mishap. However, producer Karan Johar had to rearrange a new set to complete the film.
Similarly, ‘Manikarnika’ actress Kangana Ranaut got critically injured on the sets while shooting for an action sequence with co-star Nihar Pandya. Reportedly, the latter’s sword hit the actress on her forehead, resulting in a deep wound. The actress was rushed to a hospital and got 15 stitches on her forehead.
In 2017, during the shooting of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Padmaavat’, a painter fell from the scaffolding at the Goregaon sets and died.
In the same year, on the sets of Anushka Sharma’s ‘Pari’, a technician lost his life after coming in contact with a live wire at the film’s set in Kolkata.
In 2016, during the shooting of Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, assistant director Sohail Shah lost his life in a jeep accident while trying to save two passersby on a bridge.
The most well-known accident was during the shooting of Amitabh Bachchan’s Coolie in 1983. The superstar was shooting for a fight with Puneet Issar when he fell on a table and injured his intestines badly. It took him a long time to recover from the injury.
The biggest tragedy on a film set in India was the fire in 1989 on the sets of The Sword of Tipu Sultan in Mysore. Lead actor and producer Sanjay Khan, who suffered major burn injuries, underwent 73 surgeries and spent more than a year in hospital. He later returned to finish the series.
