Rahul Banerjee's death fallout: Tollywood shooting on hold to demand safety on sets

KOLKATA: In a fallout of actor Rahul Arunoday Banerjee's death on the Talsari beach, Tollywood shooting will remain suspended from Tuesday over safety and security concerns for unit members on the sets.An emergency meeting has been called on Tuesday to resolve the issue and put safety protocols in place for artistes and crew during shoots. The decision to suspend shooting was taken at a meeting of West Bengal Motion Picture Artists’ Forum and Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India. The meeting was attended by Prosenjit Chatterjee, Rituparna Sengupta, Shantilal Mukhopadhyay, Priyanka Sarkar, Jisshu Sengupta, Nitesh Sharma, Diganta Bagchi and Swarup Biswas, among others.On Sunday, Mukhopadhyay spoke about the insecurity of working in Tollywood, saying they never know if they will return home from a shoot. Chatterjee said the actor’s dea-th while shooting for a TV series has left everyone scared.Stakeholders told TOI that safety risks have existed for decades but concern fades quickly after every incident and little changes on the ground. In 1977, actor Keya Chakraborty died in an accident during a shoot. Conspiracy theories followed, but no concrete reform emerged. In 2009, actor Kunal Mitra suffered a heart attack while shooting for ‘Utsober Ratri’ at a south Kolkata studio. Producer Debasish Bose, Mitra’s cousin, said there was no emergency medical support on the sets.“Not a single paramedic was on the sets. My brother died while being taken to hospital,” said Bose. “Seventeen years have passed, but little corrective action has been taken... While there are protests over the required presence of technical workers, paramedics are still not treated as essential. Rahul’s case is proof that the industry failed to learn from tragedies,” he said.Producer Anjan Bose said, “Rahul’s death has opened a can of worms. Every production house where accidents have occurred needs to be exposed and made accountable.”