Last Sunday morning turned fatal for S Mohanraj, a stuntman who died during the filming of a high-risk car stunt for Vettuvam. He was 52!
At a time when the whole industry is mourning the stunt coordinator’s demise, a question that pops up is – how secure are these jobs?
Of course, this is not the first time a stuntman has died on the sets while performing dangerous deeds.
The case is almost the same in Bollywood, too, where over 650 stunt performers are still without a structured safety net.
Recent reports reveal that the only consistent insurance coverage they receive is thanks to Akshay Kumar. Apparently, the actor has been personally funding a group policy for years.
While his gesture is undeniably generous, the larger issue is — why is a billion-dollar industry depending on the goodwill of one actor to protect its most vulnerable workers?
The insights get more serious here!
To even begin working, a stuntman must secure a card that reportedly costs Rs. 3.6 lakh. Isn’t it a steep investment for someone earning just Rs. 5,000 a day?
And with no industry-wide health insurance, every fall, fire stunt, or high-speed crash becomes a gamble for these professionals.
Earlier incidents have only highlighted the system’s failures. Let’s take the case of Chennai Express where a stuntman was severely injured on the sets.
That time, Shah Rukh Khan contributed Rs. 50 lakh, while director Rohit Shetty promised lifelong financial support. But these isolated acts of kindness only emphasize the absence of institutional responsibility.
Union support, regulatory intervention, or mandatory insurance laws remain missing for these people. The question remains: in a film industry where most things are all about performing action, why are the real action heroes still an afterthought?
