No more shoots at railway station

Mumbai Central is doomed. A death on the sets, false complaints, and director Kaizad Gustad now faces multiple police inquiries and a possib...

Mumbai Central is doomed. A death on the sets, false complaints, and director Kaizad Gustad now faces multiple police inquiries and a possible law suit from the victim’s family. The crew has already started quitting one by one. To top it all, it seems there is no way the Railways is going to give Gustad permission to carry on with the film. ‘‘They lied to us. We will not allow them to continue their shoot,’’ said Railways CPRO Shailendra Kumar.

About commuting travails in Mumbai, iMumbai Central focuses on the economic disparities between two couples and is set in the background of the city’s lifeline — the railways.

Nadia Khan, an assistant director from the UK, was knocked down by a train at Mahalaxmi station last week and she succumbed to her injuries. The crew lied that it was a road accident. Exactly 15 minutes after Khan was hit (12.30pm), the crew called up the PR office of the Railways to say they had to discontinue the shoot as a camera had broken down.

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The entire crew faces another round of questioning, now by the railway police after DCP (West Zone) Railways, Sahebrao Khankhal confirmed they had received the papers from Tardeo police.

The Railways, meanwhile, have their own loose ends to tie. According to sources, constable Dharshana Vaithi was on duty at t he time of the mishap. She even accompanied assistant director Ashish Udeshi, crew member Hadley D’ Mello and Nadia to Nair Hospital.

According to norms, Vaithi was to inform the station superintendent about the accident. Nobody knows why the case was not registered. Senior officials are still unaware that the constable was present at the site. As per rules for film shooting on stations, a railway employee and two Railway Police Force (RPF) officials have to be present. Senior Divisional Security Commissioner Vinod Kumar Dhaka said they could not send RPF on time as permission was granted the same day. They reached around noon and were told the crew had packed up for the day.

Even though no shooting was done, the Railways have decided not to return the Rs 65,000 advance Gustad paid them for violating rules.

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