Lack of safety protocol on sets a cause for concern

Over three accidents on the sets have been reported in the last two weeks in Tamil and Telugu industries. An electrician was grievously injured and taken to hospital after a light from a crane fell on his head on the sets of Vijay 63. The sets of Mersal in Binny Mills were burnt down last week and the sets of Chiranjeevi’s multilingual flick, Syee Raa Narasimha Reddy caught fire on the sets erected at Chiranjeevi’s farmhouse in Hyderabad. However, when we talk to who’s who of the industry on safety protocols, they play the usual blame game. Swaminathan, an office-bearer of the Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI), says, “We heard that the person injured on the sets of Vijay 63 isn’t an employee of FEFSI. Such incidents do not occur often. This happened due to a minor carelessness. Also, we were informed that the person injured was on his mobile phone when the accident happened. Moreover, there was an ambulance stationed outside the sets and he was immediately rushed to the hospital. We are coming up with stringent measures in future on safety issues and an official announcement will be made soon.”

Producer Mathiazhagan of Etcetera Entertainment, who bankrolled Hansika’s Maha where the actress had to perform a major stunt sequence laments on the monopoly of FEFSI on the industry and explains, “FEFSI has now introduced a rule that all employees in the unit must be members of FEFSI. They charge us twice more than normal daily wage labourers. They go to an extent of stopping a shoot if they find out that the shooting is taking place without their employees. This in turn increases the budget of the film. It is producers, who need to take a call on who they want to employ on the sets. If they are from FEFSI, they have to ensure that allow them to work on safety measures as well because, it is easier for them to blame us.”

Stunt duo Anbariv takes a neutral stand and says, “People always say stuntmen are more prone to accidents and injuries on the sets. But there are others like lightmen, who put their lives at risk while working on the sets. A minor mistake in a crane’s pulley can cause major casualties. It is high time that everyone followed safety protocols once the shoot begins.