Kannada actors drown in film shoot over lake

ArrayBengaluru, Nov 7  Two male actors were drowned in a lake near Bengaluru on Monday during the shooting of a Kannada movie while enacting a stunt scene by jumping from a helicopter, said police.

"Anil and Uday, aged 31 and 38 years, drowned in the TG Halli lake after they jumped from a chopper along with Kannada hero Duniya Vijay, who survived the stunt and was rescued by fishermen," police officer H.L. Nandeesha told IANS.

The Thippagondanahalli (TG Halli) lake is about 40 km northwest of Bengaluru at the confluence of Arkavathy and Kumudavathi rivers in Ramanagara district. It is one of the sources of drinking water supply to Bengaluru.

"Efforts are on to recover the bodies of the two from the lake. The fire brigade and the National Disaster Relief Force have been searching in the backwaters since 4 p.m. but did not find any body till darkness set in," said Nandeesha.

The stunt act is the climax of a scene in the upcoming film 'Maastigudi' where the hero (Vijay) chases the two villains trying to escape in a chopper from the lake shore. The hero too hops onto the chopper, which flies over the lake's backwaters.

As seen from the film footage, aired on local news channels, in a fight between the hero and the duo, the hero pushes both the actors from the chopper and joins them in the reservoir to carry on the fight.

"We have registered a criminal case of negligence against the production unit of the film as no precautionary and safety measures were taken for the film shoot," said Nandeesha.

As Vijay survived the fatal jump, Anil and Uday, who did not know swimming, drowned in the middle of the lake before they could be rescued.

"There were no life jackets or a rescue team or an ambulance for such a mishap," added Nandeesha.