Kamal Haasan to donate Rs 1 crore to families of deceased in Indian 2 accident
Tamil film industry is yet to come to terms with the shocking accident that occurred at the sets of ‘Indian 2’, resulting in the death of 3 technicians and 10 others getting injured. Director Shankar and lead actors Kamal Haasan and Kajal Aggarwal were present on the sets and had a very narrow escape.
Last day, Kamal Haasan held a press meet in Chennai where he slammed the lack of safety facilities in film sets. He also promised to donate Rs 1 crore to the families of the crew members who got killed in the mishap. The film’s producers Lyca Productions also announced that they will donate a sum of Rs 2 crore as financial aid to the families of the deceased and the injured.
Regarding the lack of safety facilities, Kamal is quoted saying, “I have been in this industry since my childhood, and this incident has once again proved that there is no safety compliance. We boast about big-budget films, without providing safety to people working for the movies.”
The incident occured on Wednesday night at around 9.45 PM in Chennai’s EVP Film City when a huge crane carrying light equipment came crashing down suddenly. Reportedly, the rope that was used to hold up the light set-up gave way. Weighing hundreds of tons, the crane instantly crushed 3 people to death. Those injured were immediately taken to a nearby private hospital.
The huge crane fell on top of the canopy where the director and his assistants would watch the monitor while actors perform. Kamal Haasan opened up on how fortunate he was to escape the accident by a whisker.
He said, “Just seconds before the accident, the director (Shankar) and cameraman (Rathnavelu) moved away from the place. Kajal and I were under the tent which got crushed. If I had moved two inches away from my place, someone else would have been talking to you instead of me.”
Assistant director Krishna (34), art assistant Chandran (60) and production assistant Madhu (29) are the three technicians who passed away. Police officials have filed a case and are investigating the cause of the accident.
