PIL in HC seeks a safety net for those who toil behind the scenes

The Bombay High Court on Thursday admitted a public interest litigation seeking guidelines for the safety and social security of people working in the film industry but remain behind the scenes.

The PIL, filed by a non-profit organisation called Association for Aiding Justice, seeks guidelines for safety and health of stunt professionals, technicians and other professional artists working in the movie and television industries. It also seeks a comprehensive policy and implementation to prevent violation of the rights of these people.

Adivision bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice BP Colabawalla issued notices to the following respondents and sought their reply by March 19 - the Centre, the state government, its labour department, the Film Federation and the Producers Association. Advocate Jamshed Mistry, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that while the high court building has a clinic on its ground floor and an ambulance near its gate to tackle emergencies, the entertainment industry has no such measures.

The petition said none of the respondents have so far framed any guidelines for safety and health of the people involved. It said despite the Centre making the Employees Provident Fund Act applicable to cine employees, its implementation remains only on paper.

“Thousands of workers and technicians slog for long uninterrupted hours under stressful conditions,” said the petition. “They are the backbone of the industry and equal partners in its exponential growth. They deserve to have access to social security system and highest attainable standards of health.”

While the industry is not well regulated and statistics are not available about the number of accidents, the petition lists several incidents over the years, including the relatively young soap opera industry as well. Deaths or serious injuries to various stuntmen, light-men or other personnel and the meagre help they received have been documented in the petition.

Aeijaz Gulab, general secretary of the stuntmen’s association, said there is definitely a need for safety measures to be taken. “While a lot of action directors take all the possible precautions they can, accident can still happen, as it happened in my own case. Not everyone earns enough to support themselves or their family in such a situation.”

Mahesh Bhatt, noted filmmaker, said it was heartening that a collective of lawyers have looked at the industry through a non-glamorous prism. “While there are associations and unions who look after the poorest sections of the industry, any external agency approaching the court that may result in some direction to the government of the day or the people involved should always be welcome,” he said.

Some cases in the petition

Afire during the shoot of the Sword of Tipu Sultan in Mysore gutted the entire set and killed 60 workers, artists and technicians. Calling the incident one of the worst in the industry, the petition says: no equipment was available on the sets.

Light-man Subhash S Murkar (40) fell from a height of 35 feet while adjusting the lights on the sets of acclaimed Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus Devdas at Studio 3, Filmistan, Goregaon. He was rushed to the hospital by a unit hand where he was declared dead before admission.

Lightman Vijay Gupta, 40, the sole bread winner of his family and a father of three - fell from 37 feet while fitting lights onto protruding steel rods on the sets of television serial Laagi Tujhse Lagan in Film City, Goregaon.