Safety takes a back seat in Bollywood

By Priyanka Khanna Aug 20, 2006, 14:22 GMT

New Delhi, Aug 20 (IANS) The alleged harassment of actress Bipasha Basu has once again brought to fore the lack of safety for Bollywood stars, however, the core issue is getting lost in titillating debates over whether she was sexually molested or mentally harassed.

What is conveniently forgotten is that when Bipasha had asked organisers of an overseas event celebrating India's Independence Day to 'send known men for picking her up', then why was her request not heeded?

Clearly, this disregard is the symptom of a larger lack of concern for safety of people working in Bollywood that runs deep and wide. Not so long ago, Bipasha was manhandled by hooligans in Jaipur, violently mobbed in Delhi and pounced upon by a man in a Mumbai nightclub.

Similarly, Rakhi Sawant was allegedly molested at a party by pop singer Mikka and was earlier mobbed during a stage performance. In fact, a series of reports of sexual and mental harassment have come to the fore even as a bigger chunk of women remain quiet to avoid being labelled publicity-seekers.

'If I get molested, people will think I am doing it for publicity? This is a tragedy,' says newcomer Mona Chopra, who alleges she was filmed while changing clothes at a film's set and the clip was circulated via MMS.

Besides, lack of security at sets has been a long-standing complaint of both actors and stunt-performers. Former beauty queen Sushmita Sen developed a crick in her neck this week during the shooting of film 'Zindaggi Rocks'. As always, the studio had no immediate medical facilities and she had to seek help from her own family doctor.

Sushmita had earlier suffered serious injuries when her hair had got entangled in a table fan at a film's set. In fact, the list of Bollywood stars who have sustained injuries while shooting, purely out of lack of precautions, is long and includes reigning stars like Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Akshay Kumar, Preity Zinta, Viveik Oberoi, Abhishek and Amitabh Bachchan.

In fact, stunt performers in Bollywood do not have a long working life. After working for about seven years, they usually retire since their body no longer allows them to take the pressure and risks associated with the dangerous stunts they perform.

In case of an accident, only luck can save them. Stuntman Habib recounts: 'My father died while shooting as a double for Anil Kapoor. The scene required him to be in a car that was to sink in water. Due to some problem, the car's door did not open and he died.

'I am working to keep my father's name alive, but who knows what will happen to us? Here one needs some financial backing for the family. One of my friends is currently sitting at home without work after getting injured while performing a stunt,' said Habib.

For stunt director Moses, it's the lack of organisation in the sector that hurts the profession. 'There is no organised force, no public lobby for these daily wage earners.'

However, with Bollywood going abroad for shoots so often, the props have become less hazardous. After the introduction of new safety gadgets like air packets to break a fall or fire retardant gel for fire scenes, there has been discernable decrease in deaths on sets.

Clearly, change is possible even in Bollywood. So, what is holding the Hindi film industry back from taking stern steps to provide a mechanism for checking incidents of sexual, mental and physical harassment of men and women working in Bollywood?

Speaking of stunts, Shah Rukh Khan's 15,000 feet jump for an action sequence in upcoming film 'Don' has become the talk of the town.

Directed by Farhan Akhtar, the film is a remake of the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer of the same name. Shah Rukh was operated for a back surgery in 2003 and his return to heavy-duty action flicks has set Mumbai talking.

He performed the daring stunt in Malaysia and there was a special team of stunt directors from California, who have done many Hollywood projects, to ensure the safety of the superstar. Stunts expert Joe Jennings was in-charge of the sequence.

Farhan Akhtar's decision to outsource the job of the stuntman to a Hollywood expert in 'Don' comes at a time when indigenous stunt performers are struggling to make two ends meet.

After decades of delivering quality stunts at unbelievably meagre budgets, they say they are increasingly feeling left out of the big productions.

The Stuntmen's Association of India - the nodal body for over 500 men and women who work in the movies - has been pushing producers to raise their wages by 25 percent and introduce special awards and insurance schemes.

'We don't hesitate to take risks but the rewards should match these risks,' said Rashid Mehta, president of the association. 'We never get what we deserve,' news reports quoted the veteran stuntman as saying.

'For the past three years, we have been pushing hard for a revision of our wages but to no avail. There is no insurance, no hike in wages, no attention and no awards for us,' he said.

Despite action sequences being an integral part of almost every Bollywood movie, the money allocated for stuntmen and their sequences is just about one to two percent of the total budget for a film.

Generally, a well-known male stuntman gets between Rs.1,500 and Rs.2,000 a day depending on the kind of risks he takes. This is nothing, say stuntmen, compared to what their counterparts in Hollywood earn.

In Bollywood, safety measures are often inadequate. 'For a fall sequence, we still have to put mattresses on the floor. But if a stuntman is falling from the 10th floor, there is always a big risk of his landing somewhere else,' stuntman Kaushal remarks.

The National Geographic Channel has even highlighted the conditions of stuntmen in a one-hour documentary. 'There is no ambulance or doctor on the sets, which foreign production teams insist on,' Mehta, president, Movie Stunt Artistes Association, is quoted as saying in the documentary.

In case of a fire scene, he would have to wear an asbestos hood on his head with a piece of glass in the front to see and a suit made of asbestos, too. 'The suit would have to be taped very tightly to the skin so as not to let air in, as that would catch fire,' says Mehta.

'Things are marginally better in Bollywood, but in the south there are no safety measures at all,' says an industry person. The insurance for stuntmen does not cover the entire risk factor either. 'It covers the performance, but not the rehearsals. Many stuntmen get injured during the practice,' he adds.

Recently, Antonia Bernath, a British actress who featured in Subhash Ghai's 'Kisna', had also talked about the lack of safety on Indian sets. International outcry followed when a British national died while assisting Kaizad Gustad in his film 'Mumbai Central'.

Things are changing - many big producers insure their films, which automatically puts some systems into place - but very slowly. Clearly, the need of the hour is to develop Bollywood stunt performers' capacity by ensuring their safety.

© 2006 Indo-Asian News Service