Stuntman's death during film shooting: Director Pa Ranjith booked
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Mumbai/Chennai: Following the death of a stuntman during a film shooting in Tamil Nadu’s Nagapattinam, Police booked the film’s director, Pa Ranjith and three other production crew members, charging causing death by negligence, Times of India reported.
The 52-year-old stunt artist, SM Raju, was performing a high-octane stunt scene during the shoot of the movie ‘Vettuvam’. The shooting was going on near an isolated area, Vishunthamavadi village in Nagapattinam district. In the scene, the stuntman drove a car at high speed and then went over a ramp setup and took off into the air. The car toppled before it landed on the ground on its side. A video of an accident is available on social media platforms.
The film members ran to Raju after the scene, but he was found unconscious. He was rushed to the Nagapattinam Medical College, but doctors declared him dead.
Initially, a case against those booked charged them with BNS Section 194 (unnatural death).
On Monday, the case was revised, and the charges were replaced by sections 289 (negligent conduct with machinery), 125 (endangering human life), and 106(1) (causing death by negligence) of the BNS.
Those named in the FIR are Ranjith, stunt choreographer Vinoth, manager Rajkamal of Neelam Productions, and the car's owner Prabhakaran.
Stunt artists, including veterans Sham Kaushal, Ram Shetty Aejaz Gulab, and others, mourned the death on Monday.
According to stunt directors and artists, car stunts in movies are inherently more dangerous and unpredictable than any other action sequence, though security precautions are taken before shooting such sequences.