In its response to actor Kamal Haasan’s open letter dated February 22, Lyca Productions has bounced the ball back to Kamal’s court, pointing out to the actor that "collective responsibility and rectification” was required for the crane accident which claimed the lives of three technicians on the sets of Indian 2.
“It hardly needs reminding that the entire shoot was also under the control and supervision of yourself and the director,” reads the Lyca letter that was shared online from their official handle on Wednesday.
“Given the involvement of an eminent artist and technician of your calibre and experience, and a veteran director of Mr. Shankar's stature being the captain of the ship, we were doubly confident that our own safety measures would have been amplified by your on-the-spot judgement,” the letter continues.
Signed by Neelakant Narayanpur, Lyca Productions Private Limited’s Director, the letter also states that soon after Chairman Subaskaran was informed of the accident, he took a flight to reach Chennai 3.00 pm the next day.
“We were in constant touch with your office all through and arrived at the mortuary just 15 minutes after you. At that very point, Mr Subaskaran announced financial assistance to the tune of Rs 2 crores to the family members of the deceased, and those who suffered injuries and also undertook to take care of their treatment. All these measures were taken before receipt of your letter, and it is unfortunate that this did not come to your attention before the 22 February,” the letter notes.
Further, in their response, Lyca has claimed that they have invested substantial sums towards the production of the film and that they have not compromised on health and safety. “We left no stone unturned: we appointed one of the most seasoned and professional Executive Producers, Mr Sundarrajan and also Mr K Manikandan alias Vimal duly recommended by the director as Deputy Executive Producer on the set to ensure that all the permissions and adequate safety measures were in place. The aforesaid two gentlemen were in-charge of the entire production of the film and ensure the safety measures in place. We also took out a comprehensive insurance policy to cover the entire production including personal accident policy for each member working on the set from a nationalised insurance company,” the letter reads.
— Lyca Productions (@LycaProductions) February 26, 2020
In his letter that was made public a few days ago, Kamal urged the production house to ensure the implementation of all safety guidelines and institute an audit process to assess safety standards at shooting locations before commencing any shoot. “As producers, you should ensure the best of medical help to each of those who have been admitted to hospital and provide the affected families your support during this time of need, both financially and emotionally,” he had written.
Kamal had also written that he wanted to understand the steps taken by the production team to ensure the safety of the artists, crew and other technicians involved in the shoot, and also the kind of insurance that the production team has availed. “Any loss, cost, damage, risk undergone on account of the Production team failing to carry out what they ought to have carried out has to be compensated in full and at the earliest,” he'd said.
On February 19, a crane crashed on the sets of Indian 2 at around 10 pm, killing three technicians and injuring others. Director Shankar and the film's leads Kamal Haasan and Kajal Aggarwal were also on the sets when the accident took place.