Behind the scenes: Stuntmen play with their lives every day to heighten drama in movies

When Geeta Tandon watched the viral video that captured the drowning of Kannada actors Uday and Anil Raghav, who had jumped off a helicopter into the Thippagondanahalli reservoir near Bangalore, she bristled with anger and shock. “It was a criminal act of negligence,” fumed the 29-year-old stunt artiste of Bollywood as she pointed out shocking security lapses during the shooting of Kannada film Maasti Gudi on the afternoon of November 7; both Uday and Anil were not wearing life jackets when they jumped.

Tandon has been walking on thin ice, so to speak, ever since she joined the film industry as a fighter 10 years ago. As a contestant in Season 5 of the popular TV show Khatron Ke Khiladi: Fear Factor, she had a near-death experience when she slipped from a rope thrown from a helicopter. “We were shooting in South Africa in 2005 and I fell into the river. Thankfully, I was wearing a life jacket and the speedboats stationed a few metres away rushed in to pull me out of the water,” recounts Tandon to highlight how critical safety measures are.

After a decade in a hazardous profession, the single parent of two now earns Rs 4,800, including Rs 600 for conveyance, for an eight-hour shift. When she travels abroad, she gets an extra half-shift bonus everyday. It is only when Tandon works as a body double for an actor, that her daily wage shoots to Rs 10,000. She has so far performed stunts on behalf of Kareena Kapoor in Singham Returns and for Sneha Ullal in Click.

To be fair, the glaring negligence that snuffed out the lives of the Kannada actors are uncommon in Bollywood. “In the last 10 years, one stuntman has died. On the morning of August 18, 2006, Joseph Rege gave a fire shot and then collapsed on the sets of a Hindi TV serial and died,” says 45-year-old Aejaz Gulab, general secretary, Movie Stunt Artistes Association (MSAP), a lobby group for Bollywood’s stuntmen, weighing in for fair wages and looking into complaints of non-payment of dues. “We had to get the producer to cough up Rs 4 lakh as compensation to the family. As association members, we contributed another Rs 2.5 lakh,” says Gulab, who is also an action director for Hindi and Bengali films.

The compensation didn’t come easy. In the fight for Rege’s compensation, the 57-year-old association became aware of the Workmen’s Compensation Act (1923) and the Employee’s Compensation Act (1923). The legislation has since proven to be handy as the association deals with producers for cases of injuries to its members. “We try to ensure that the producer not only pays for hospital bills and treatment costs, but also compensates the injured person in the interim — till s/he is fit to work — for loss of livelihood,” adds Gulab.

Producers’ step-children

Now thanks to computer graphics imagery (CGI), heart-stopping feats such as jumping down a waterfall or falling from a cliff can be carried out indoors. As such there has been a marked improvement in risk-prevention since 2001 with the increasing use of harnesses, airbags and life-jackets. “Safety gear became popular as the green screen software can erase their traces from the frames during post-production, says Gulab.

However, safety continues to be a nagging concern in a vocation where the envelope is often pushed for a perfect shot. In the absence of a regulatory framework, MSAP can do little to prevail upon producers to provide for a safe work environment or financially insure the lives of those who endeavour to keep film stars from harm’s way. “Some producers would rather save Rs 25,000 in a shift by not hiring safety devices like a fan descender, which controls the speed of a fall and enables the stunt person to land softly,” rues Gulab.

A-lister Akshay Kumar, renowned for his daredevilry, draws attention to the imperatives of safety. “I am, thankfully, insured as an actor by the producer of a film I am working in. I’m very strict when it comes to health and safety at all times. It’s not just the big stuff, you’d be surprised how much can go wrong even with the simplest of movements on a set,” says the actor from the sets of Toilet - Ek Prem Katha.

The 47-year-old wouldn’t let another do something he isn’t prepared to do himself. “I may let a stunt double rehearse my stunt, but I have never made him do something in my place because I was either too scared or incapable to execute such a stunt,” says the actor. He admits he had been reckless when he lifted the 158-kg wrestler Undertaker above his head for the 1996 Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi. “My spine has hated me for that ever since,” says Kumar. 

Aware of the poor wages of stunt artistes, Akshay believes that a producer can’t abdicate responsibility for the safety of the entire cast and crew, especially that of the actors and their body doubles “who contribute to the wow factor”. “If producers are willing to ride on the success of these brave artistes, then they should also be willing to insure the lives of people they are putting at risk for box office returns,” says the star.

Safety net a mirage

Producers have their line of defence. While terming the deaths of the Kannada actors as unfortunate, TP Aggarwal, president of the Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association (IMPPA), puts the onus on the actors and the stunt director “for failing to take adequate safety measures”. “These kinds of risks are always there when you are jumping into water, which is why I fail to understand why those responsible for executing the stunt were so callous,” wonders Aggarwal. Producers in Bollywood, he avers, take necessary steps to prevent mishaps. “When we shoot a film, we get our entire unit insured under general insurance. In the case of action sequences, we specifically mention the names to the insurance company,” he says, without mentioning that these firms, happy to milk producers for A-listers’ coverage, desist from insuring stuntmen.

Instead, Aggarwal feels the stunt artiste’s association should get insurance cover for its members. “Since we pay handsomely to fighters and body doubles and also address their safety concerns, we expect them to do their bit,” he says. The ‘handsome pay’ that Aggarwal talks about would barely cover medical expenses for serious injuries at any private hospital.

The stunt artistes association has been struggling to get group insurance cover for its members since 2003, says Gulab. “We have approached top companies, including LIC, but nothing concrete has transpired,” he claims. “The policies that some members have opted for do not offer any protection for stunts. Three years ago, when we had approached a company for group insurance, they asked for Rs 20,000 as premium per person — an exorbitant amount for us.”

Not untouchables?

The insurance sector is reluctant because of the mortal dangers associated with the job. “But that doesn’t mean these people are untouchables for us. We grade professionals on the basis of the risks involved in their line of duty, so a fireman, a window cleaner or a stunt performer cannot be clubbed with an average officegoer,” says an insurance insider. Consequently, high-risk individuals pay higher premiums than a person with a desk job, he says. Group insurance is the only feasible option in this case as it also safeguards an insurance company’s interests. Premiums are usually determined on the basis of statistics derived from studying the number and nature of injuries and fatalities. “The association must not give up hope because the last death, as per its secretary, occurred a decade ago,” he says. This may well be a false hope given that even actor Jackie Chan remains a hot potato for insurers working in Hollywood.

From life insurance underwriting point of view, occupation is indeed one of the key factors. “The reason being that there are a few occupations which are inherently risky and have contributed towards additional mortality,” says P Ravi Kutumbarao, head of operations, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance. “As the population engaged in such activities is small, the risk for such groups is handled by having differential underwriting guidelines. Most insurers do provide life cover under saving and investment-oriented products and do charge extra premiums which will typically differ from profession to profession.”

And life goes on...

For the 540 members of MSAP, including 12 women, suffering injuries is an inescapable reality. Gulab has broken his fingers and burnt his hair in what he calls minor mishaps. His two major injuries — he broke his femur on the sets of Veergati in 1995 while jumping 15 feet lower; and shattered his ankle in 2004 during a rehearsal in Fight Club — have forced him to carry a steel rod in his left leg and a metal screw in his right ankle. “Thanks to Salman Khan, the hero of Veergati, I was able to resume work after a few months because he paid my medical expenses,” says a grateful Gulab. Geeta Tandon already has three hairline fractures in her spine but she can’t allow her vulnerability to limit her movements.

A stunt artiste’s professional life is typically shortlived. “By the age of 40, the body begins showing the effects of the wear-and-tear it has suffered,” says Gulab. Tandon is looking at another 10 years of work before she hangs up her boots. Meanwhile, they would be tensely hoping to steer clear of hazards that might bring about a fate worse than death: a crippling injury.