The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) recently sent a notice to TV show Ali Baba: Dastaan-E-Kabul producers Alind Srivastava and Nissar Parvez for gross negligence and not taking enough care of the cast and crew, referring to Tunisha Sharma’s death by suicide on the sets of the show. While the makers of Ali Baba are not commenting on this, other producers feel FWICE’s notice is unfair.
What FWICE has to say
BN Tiwari (President, FWICE) said, “An FIR should be registered against the producers, who could have saved Tunisha’s life if there was an ambulance on the set. I also feel that they should have intervened when there were issues between the actor (Sheezan Khan) and actress.”
BN Tiwari says, “If film sets can have an ambulance and a doctor on set, why are TV producers not vigilant about it? And if it is not feasible to have medical help on each set, we should try and have one ambulance for four to five sets.”
It is not feasible: TV show makers
Makers feel that it is not practical to have a doctor or ambulance on every set or a group of sets. Producer Prateek Sharma said, “How can we have a doctor and ambulance on the set of every TV show? It’s not feasible. More than doctors, I feel we need mental health counsellors on the sets, who will talk to the cast and crew whenever required. Everyone on the set goes through tremendous pressure and so, I feel counselling is the need of the hour.”
Producer JD Majethia (Chairman, Television and Web, Indian Film and Television Producers Council) added, “I had proposed the need for a mental health counsellor on my sets a few days ago. While this is necessary, actors should also focus on their health and seek help. Yes, they go through a lot of insecurity and these issues need to be addressed, but I don’t think that a doctor will sit on the set doing nothing all day.”
Amit Behl, actor and Honorary General Secretary, Cine & TV Artistes Association (CINTAA), shares “Abroad, the entire issue would have been dealt with in a very serious manner. I feel we should all sit together and discuss how we can bring in better facilities on the sets. I agree that actors face a lot of insecurities, which we need to address. Mental health is of utmost importance and we need to focus on that.”
Producer Binaifer Kohli says they currently try and do as much as they can to ensure the safety of the cast and crew. “On our set, we have a car and have also trained a few individuals in case of medical emergencies. Since an ambulance cannot reach on time always, we have kept this car ready. We should do whatever we can to be prepared.”
