Our Bureau
Mumbai
After the tragic death of veteran stuntman SM Raju on the sets of Pa Ranjith’s film on Sunday, July 13th, Akshay Kumar has decided to address the safety concerns in the industry. He has announced that he is going to insure the safety of around 650 stuntmen and stuntwomen’s lives in India.
It is being reported that the Bollywood superstar has decided to provide health and accident coverage for over 650 stuntmen, stuntwomen and other action crew members working in the industry. They are covered under the policy which has cashless medical treatment ranging from ₹5 to ₹5.5 lakh. This step by the actor is being applauded all around by those who perform these risky stunts in Bollywood movies.
A veteran stuntman who has worked with Akshay Kumar in ‘OMG 2’ and has worked in other movies like ‘Dhadak 2’ and ‘Jigra’ thanked the star for his generous gesture. He said, “Thanks to Akshay sir, around 650 to 700 stuntmen and action crew members in Bollywood are now covered under insurance. The policy includes cashless medical treatment up to ₹5 to ₹5.5 lakh, whether the injury occurs on or off set.”
The whole situation arose when a viral video shot from the sets of Pa Ranjith’s upcoming movie titled Vettuvam took over the internet. The video showed Raju driving an SUV for a scene at a very high speed. The car went over the ramp for a stunt but lost its balance mid-way and toppled, landing hard on its front end.
SM Raju lost his life in the bizarre incident and the news of his death was confirmed by Tamil actor Vishal, who Raju collaborated with in many films. The accident alarmed the whole film industry across the country resulting in several measures being taken.
