Masti Gudi deaths: Stunt director Ravi Verma to be banned from Kannada films?

The public and media have held the makers of Masti Gudi responsible for the deaths of two budding actors Anil Raghav and Uday, who drowned when an action sequence went wrong in Thippagondanahalli Reservoir, 35 km west of Bangalore, on Monday, November 7. 

The general perception is that the makers had not taken enough precautionary measures before commencing the climax of Masti Gudi, leading to the deaths of Anil and Uday. Particularly, people are targeting stunt choreographer Ravi Verma for his sheer carelessness. 

The budding actors, moments before the climax sequence, had told the media that they were not good swimmers and had decided to take the chance having complete faith on the Masti Gudi team. Shockingly, despite their claims the film unit decided to complete the sequence without using body double.

Many are of the opinion that their lives would not have lost if the Masti Gudi team had provided them lifejackets when it was provided to the hero, Duniya Vijay.

"They should have provided life-jackets to Uday and Anil as they were not good swimmers. Using the latest technologies, they could have blurred the safety equipment worn by the duo. The very least one could have done was to ensure to see that the boats were in good condition," noted stuntman Kaurava Venkatesh told a television channel.

"Normally, there will be a few rehearsals before doing such dangerous stunt sequences. I don't see it was the same in this case," he points out.

Meanwhile, Jaggesh on Twitter has slammed Ravi Verma for planning the climax sequence without adequate safety measures. 

Filmmaker and actor Dayal Padmanabhan has gone one step ahead by calling for a ban on Ravi Varma. On his Facebook page, he wrote, "I will be appealing officially to karnataka film chamber of commerce and producers association to ban stunt director Ravi Varma from the industry for his negligency attitude n unprofessional working pattern..! Hope this will save many more from the industry and also bring the professional discipline to other technicians related to their creative area..! Pls feel free to express your opinion..!"

On the other hand, the search operation has intensified for the missing bodies of drowned actors Anil Raghav and Uday.