FILM'S Director and stunt master say it's not them
A little over a month after the tragic death of two actors '
Anil Kumar N and
Raghava Uday ' on the set of the now-stalled Kannada movie
Maasti Gudi
after a stunt went horribly wrong, the director of the film,
Nagashekar, and stunt master,
Ravi Varma, have obtained bail in the case. The duo were accused No. 2 and 4 in the plaint and have both, interestingly, shirked responsibility in the incident.
On November 8, Ravi Varma had coordinated a stunt sequence for the film that required Anil, Uday and lead actor Duniya Vijay to jump into the Thippagondanahalli reservoir from a helicopter that was hovering at a height of 60 ft. In interviews to television channels moments before the shoot, both the actors had stated that they were not good swimmers, but that they were going ahead with the requirement of the scene as they trusted Vijay, a long-time friend. Shortly after, Anil and Uday ' both of whom were not equipped with any safety gear ' drowned in the murky water, after the rescue boat on stand-by failed to start.
As it now stands, the Karnataka High Court has granted Nagashekar and Ravi Varma bail, based on contentions submitted by their legal representatives. (A copy of the order is with Bangalore Times)
The counsel for Nagashekar has claimed that in the capacity of director he has no role in the matter of fights or stunts.
According to his lawyer, Kemparaju, Nagashekar has submitted that it is only the stunt director who directs stunt scenes. 'The stunt director will have his own team for his
assistance on such occasions,' he claims in his bail application.
The counsel for Ravi, meanwhile, has claimed that he did not ask for actors to jump from the helicopter into the water.
In the bail plea for Ravi Varma, his advocate, CH Hanumantharaya, has stated that a stunt director will direct only the stunt scenes and that the fatal jump of the stunt actors from the helicopter to the water was not his direction. 'It is sheer accidental death,' states the application, adding that the stunt actors had
consented to jump from the helicopter, but could not swim. The plea also claims that enough arrangements were made to meet the 'casualty', but that the boat that was kept ready at the spot did not start and rescue swimmers could not reach Anil and Uday in time, though they were able to rescue the hero, Vijay.