BENGALURU : A simple excitement of watching a film shoot turned tragic, claiming the life of a five-year-old girl and her 29-year-old mother on Friday afternoon in the middle of Soolibele Road at Bagalur near Hosakote. Tragedy struck when a helium cylinder, used in a stunt action scene involving car explosions, caught fire and shot up 50 feet like a rocket and descended at high velocity to hit the mother and daughter, killing them instantly.
The film ‘Ranam’, directed by renowned Tollywood director V Samudra, was in its second shoot schedule near Shell Company, when the tragedy struck at around 3.30 pm. The deceased have been identified as Sumera Banu, 29, and her daughter Ahera Khan, 5, residents of Soolibele. Sumera’s husband Tabrez Khan, a driver by profession, sustained severe injuries, while their elder daughter Zainab escaped with minor injuries.
The family was returning home after meeting relatives in Bagalur when they came across the film shooting and stopped to watch. A senior police officer said that around 3pm, the crew was shooting a scene wherein two cars were supposed to collide and go up in flames, for which the helium cylinder was to play a part in explosive fire. But the cylinder shot into the air like a rocket and descended to strike Sumera and Ahera.
MN Reddi, DG of Fire Services, said the film’s crew had not obtained any prior permission to shoot the sequence. “They have to obtain police and fire department’s permission which they had not got prior to shooting the scene.” The police booked the film crew for shooting without permission and using inflammables in public spaces without precautions.
Measures taken for shooting scene, not for people around
Although the crew members claimed that safety measures had been taken, it was only for the scene and not for those who were around. Making it worse, many crew members ran from the spot after the tragic incident.The stunt master, Vijay, was at the spot when the incident took place and they had reportedly taken safety measures at the shooting scene. They had failed to take preventive measures around the area. The helium cylinder, which caught fire due to a suspected leak, made it shoot like a rocket. It went 50 feet high and came down to strike the family that was standing near the film unit’s bus.
“The impact was so high that the woman’s body was blown into pieces and the girl’s head was severely injured. The two were instantly killed,” said a senior police officer, citing eyewitnesses. The film ‘Ranam’ directed by renowned Tollywood director V Samudra, was in its second shooting schedule at Shell Company Bunk, when the incident took place. The movie stars Chetan Kumar and Chiranjeevi Sarja, and is being produced by Kanakapura Srinivas. It will be made in Telugu as well as Kannada.
Actor Chetan Kumar, who rushed to the spot after the mishap said, “The crew will stand for the family that lost two lives and will do everything possible to help them. I was not at the spot during the shooting and was shocked to hear about the mishap. My schedule was held on Thursday and I had gone home after completing the shoot. I condemn the fact that the entire crew including the technical team ran away from the spot after the incident instead of helping the family.”
Bagaluru police took Chetan to the the police station and recorded his statement. The police have also taken statements from form eyewitnesses and locals. A case of negligence has been filed against the producer, director and stunt master, but no arrests have been made so far. Forensic Science Laboratory experts also conducted spot inspection as part of the investigations, the police officer added.
Helium cylinder, ued in an action scene involving car explosions, catches fire and shoots up 50 feet killing mom and daughter.