A senior actress, beacon of so-called art cinema swore by natural acting. When she reluctantly moved to mainstream fare lured by the lucre, a director explained an emotional sequence in which she had to shed tears. She sunk into a chair, closed her eyes and internalised, trying to recall personal tragedies. Amused, the hero a reigning superstar for whom time meant money snapped her out of the reverie and told her he was ready. “But the tears have to be natural,” said the lady. “Who do you think is going to make out the difference,” smirked the co-star pointing out to a bottle of glycerine.
A Kannada superstar met a kid who was a die-hard fan but was flabbergasted when the kid insisted that a back breaking dance sequence that was performed was achieved through CG. No amount of explaining convinced him. Cinema is a world of make believe and in today’s world everything out of the ordinary is attributed to graphics.
I’ve been to the sets of Telugu films in the eighties where a Krishna or a Shoban Babu would be lolling around on a picnic chair sporting a spotless suit waiting to be called for a fight sequence. There were no air-conditioned caravans those days. Reluctantly drawn from chattering with his cohorts, the star would stand at the edge of a balcony, spread his arms and heave when ‘action’ is shouted. ‘Cut’, the action director would shout and the superstar would sink back into his seat. A stunt performer wearing similar attire as the superstar would then jump from the balcony to complete the dangerous sequence.
Accidents do happen. Stunt performers flirt with death nearly on a daily basis even when precautions are taken. Their families are always on the edge wondering if they will return when they send them off to work. The heartrending scenes at General Hospital, Madras when the remains of a youngster from a bike stunt gone awry was brought still haunt. Then there are some like the Malayalam actor Jayan who, on the cusp of super stardom, insisted on another ‘take’ in a sequence where he had to jump on to a helicopter from the pillion of a motorcycle. The copter crashed and while the other two escaped, death captured Jayan.
A pall of gloom has descended on the Kannada film industry. Two budding baddies were literally pushed to their death in what could be termed as unintentional murder. The scenes of their confessing to not knowing swimming and then desperately flailing their arms before the water swallows them, cannot be erased. When Uday nervously confessed that he was afraid of heights and it was the first time he was sighting a helicopter, I was reminded of his admitting that it was his maiden flight as we boarded an aircraft to Kuala Lumpur. He had won an award for his debut performance as a baddie in ‘Jayammana Maga’ and if he was excited, it didn’t show. Mild mannered and mostly keeping to himself he was an antithesis to the menacing character he played. Accepting the award from Shivanna, he reeled off a popular dialogue in a gravelly voice and did not forget to thank his ‘guru’ Vijay. Anil was literally Vijay’s shadow, accompanying him everywhere and protecting him from unwanted attention. They were well built and fit but nervous.
‘Masti Gudi’ is ‘Duniya’ Vijay’s most ambitious venture. He has penned the story and was excited. The media was invited to witness a daredevil stunt after which the traditional pumpkin marking the end of shooting is broken. Everyone has been watching what happened on TV and there are more questions than answers. The lack of safety measures, basic precautions and absolutely no effort to help by anyone including Vijay is appalling and smacks of utter callousness. It’s intriguing to watch a person escort Vijay to safety even though he’s wearing a life jacket while you see the two struggling to keep afloat.
Now, an established villain would have refused to perform this dangerous deed. In fact the crew would have settled for a trained stunt person to impersonate. Uday and Anil could easily be coerced because they were still trying to establish themselves and were apprehensive of the professional repercussions if they refused. Most stunts these days are performed with the aid of ropes that are easily erased later. Tubes could have been thrown for them to cling on to after the shot was canned or boats with trained swimmers in the garb of fishermen could have been hovering around near the spot. Foolhardiness should not be mistaken for bravery. One cannot imagine the anguish of families losing two bread winners in the prime of life to something that was easily avoidable.
The blame game has started. I think everyone present at the time is a culprit for their failure to see the inevitable. Politicians and industry bigwigs will make the necessary noises and monetary compensation will be made. Public memory is short. The stunt man who lost a leg during the shooting of ‘Lock-up Death’ works as an office boy in a producer’s office. It’s a wake-up call but at what cost? Life for everyone else will move on but for the bereaved families.
sshivu@yahoo.com
