Kamal Haasan appeared before Chennai Police today in connection with crane crash on his film set
South actor-politician Kamal Haasan appeared before Chennai Police today in connection with the death of three men on a film set last month. One of them was an assistant director who died after a crane broke and crashed on crew working below during a shoot for Kamal Haasan's film Indian 2, which is being shot at the EVP Film City on the outskirts of the city.
Nine others were injured. Kamal Haasan was at another location close to the accident site.
Chennai Police had registered a case of negligence causing death and injury and said responsibility for the incident would be fixed after studying the forensic report.
The film's director, Shankar, appeared before police last week. At the time of the accident police sources said it was unknown if he was on site when the crane came crashing down.
The accident caused a stir in the Tamil film industry and raised concerns over lack of safety measures during shoots and on sets.
Shortly after the crash Kamal Haasan wrote to Lyca Productions, the company behind Indian 2, asking for a safety audit and insurance cover for the crew.
The company responded by saying the veteran actor, who launched his political party - Makkal Needhi Maiam - ahead of Lok Sabha polls in April-May last year, was always in control, and hinted that any responsibility for the accident should be borne collectively.
The company also said they did have an insurance policy and had put in place safety measures after engaging experts.
Their statement read: "As you are surely aware, incidents of this nature need to be dealt with in the spirit of collective responsibility... It hardly needs reminding that the entire shoot was also under the control and supervision of yourself and the director".
Kamal Haasan and Shankar had earlier announced Rs 1 crore as financial assistance to the families of the three men who died.
"The accident is cruel. I lost three colleagues. More than my pain, the grief of their families would be immense. I share their sorrow. My deep condolences to them," he said.
Lyca Productions had said "no words could ease what we truly feel" and that it was "extremely saddened (by) the unfortunate accident".
The three killed were assistant director Krishna, art assistant Chandran and Madhu, a production assistant, the company said in a statement.
Indian 2 is a sequel to the blockbuster film Indian (1996). Along with Kamal Haasan, the sequel also features Kajal Agarwal, Rakul Preet, Priya Bhavani, and Siddharth among others.