Film unit leaves behind pain and misery for 2 kids

But what has hurt their families even more is the complete insensitivity of the producers and the director Partho Ghosh. While Ghosh was not available for comment, his lawyer, K P Mirani, denied all allegations. And all that the film producer, D Dhauwani, had to say was: “Since the incident happened a year back, I only remember it vaguely. It would be best if you talk to my production manager.”

In March last year, a film set was erected at Shanti Nagar, Goregaon (east) on plot nos 246 and 247. The sequence that was being shot was that of a few hutments being destroyed in an explosion. The shooting continued for a few days, and according to eye-witnesses, the impact of the blasts was so great that they saw tin sheets fly several feet high in the air. On March 18, 1998 the unit finished shooting and the sets were dismantled, making available the open ground once again to cricket enthusiasts like Ravindra and Sandip.

On March 21, Ravindra while playing with his friends noticed a strange objectlying on the ground, with two wires jutting out from its ends. Without realising that it could be one of those explosives used for the film shoot, Ravindra brought the bomb home. As Ravindra and Sandip started playing with the object, it suddenly went off blowing Ravindra’s right hand. “I was lucky to be standing a little distance away…I lost my middle finger and received burns on my leg,” says Sandip.

And today, one year after the incident, the trauma continues. “My son Ravindra has been unable to clear class eight, and has had to undergo three major operations at a cost of Rs 35,000. Yet so far we have not received a paisa from the film producers,” said Balu Pawar, Ravindra’s father.The Pawars are now planning to file a case in the high court against the director Partho Ghosh, art director Ratnakar Phadke, and the owner of the private plot where the shooting took place, Govind Parsekar. They have also made the police a party to the case for allowing the film unit to use explosives in aresidential area. When Balu Pawar was asked why it took them one year to think of legal redressal, he said all this while they were running from pillar to post to get the boys treated and claim compensation from the producers.

However, Senior Inspector of Dindoshi police station, K A Gawde, said: “We have already filed a chargesheet against the plot owner and the explosive handler of the unit. The police should not be blamed as the shooting took place on a private plot of land.”

The film fraternity too has closed ranks against the Pawars. The Executive Secretary of Association of Motion Picture & TV Programme Producers, Anil Nagrath, said: “I do not blame the producer of Majboor, or the director for the accident as it happened after the shooting was over.” However, an eye-witness to the blasts, Shankar Maskar, who is a neighbour of the Pawars, said: “It is criminal negligence on the part of the film unit to leave behind explosives. In fact, just a day or two after Ravindra’s hand was reduced to astump, I had discovered yet another explosive lying around and had immediately informed the police.” The bomb disposal squad had defused the explosive after cordoning off the area.