TNN
Mumbai, Nov 2: A fire broke out on the mezzanine floor of the two-storeyed Jaipan Studios in Goregaon at 3.15 pm on Thursday November 1, destroying its accounts office and godown. A television serial’s shoot was in progress on the second floor when the incident occurred.
"The accident brings to light the lack of fire safety norms in many studios across the city," said members of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees, which had recently written to fire brigade officials to highlight the matter.
After the fire broke out, efforts were made to fight the blaze with the help of three extinguishers before the fire brigade was called in. The fire took over an hour to get extinguished. It destroyed all the furniture, eight computers and documents including share certificates and property papers.
"We were shooting for the TV serial ‘Ghar Ek Sapna’ on the second floor when some spot boys told us that there was a fire," says a member of the crew. The actors rushed downstairs, but seeing little smoke they continued shooting and even shot a couple of shots before evacuating the premises.
"We then rushed down the main staircase as there was no fire escape route," adds the crew member. Incidentally, a few members from the unit—including spot boys and light men—stayed back to retrieve expensive equipment, including costly lights which were stored in a locked room.
"They (light men) are always held responsible when any of the equipment is damaged," says a source. Fire brigade officers had to climb to the second floor and force them to come downstairs.
Bhaskar Rao Sawant from the Goregaon police said, "We have not yet taken the panchnama due to power shortage in the area." He added that the exact damage could be estimated after assessing the number of share documents and property papers destroyed in the blaze.
According to Dinesh Chaturvedi, general secretary of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees, they had written to the fire department about the lack of fire safety measure in studios a month back but had received no response.