Bengali serial and film stars will now work under productions covered by insurance, as industry stakeholders in Tollygunge rolled out new safety steps after recent incidents, including the death of Rahul Arunoday Banerjee.
The joint meeting, attended by senior office-bearers of the Eastern India Motion Pictures Association and the West Bengal Motion Picture Artists’ Forum, was called to assess on-set safety measures and frame a new standard operating procedure (SOP).
Senior industry figures, including Prosenjit Chatterjee, Shantilal Mukherjee and
Bidipta Chakraborty, were present.
Piya Sengupta, president of EIMPA, and chairman Ritabrata Bhattacharya attended the meeting along with producers Rana Sarkar and Pradip Nandy, while Shrikant Mohta joined virtually.
“Along with film insurance, we have discussed several measures to prevent accidents on sets. A written SOP will be shared soon,” Sarkar said.
Rahul is believed to have died while trying to save a female co-actor who slipped into a depression on an uneven Talsari beach in Odisha during a shoot for the TV serial Bhole Baba Par Karega on March 29.
His post-mortem revealed that his lungs were filled with a large quantity of sand and saline water. While the co-actor was quickly rescued, it took time to pull Rahul out.
The 42-year-old actor, writer and podcast host was rushed to Digha State General Hospital, 11km from Talsari, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
The production house has denied allegations of negligence, stating that it had permission for the shoot.
Speaking to reporters, Piya Sengupta said Rahul’s death brought to light gaps in on-set safety measures. “While working together, we may have become a bit unorganised in some areas. Rahul showed us that we need to be more structured,” she noted.
In response to a question on disciplinary measures, including introducing a code of conduct and regulating alcohol use and smoking during shoots, Bidipta said, “We touched on all such issues, and a decision will be arrived at soon.”
On April 5, members of the Tollywood film and television fraternity staged a protest march in Kolkata, demanding accountability. The Artists’ Forum also filed an FIR. Earlier this month, during a press conference, the West Bengal Motion Pictures Artists’ Forum also decided to boycott the production banner Magic Moments, linked to the TV serial Bhole Baba Par Karega, until the circumstances surrounding the March 29 death of Rahul are clarified.