File photo of Uday and Anil

Other members of the shooting unit

Film stunt goes wrong, two Kannada actors feared dead after jumping from chopper into lake

TIPPAGONDANAHALLI (KARNATAKA): Two actors drowned while shooting for a Kannada movie after they jumped off a helicopter into the Tippagondanahalli reservoir, 35km west of Bengaluru, on Monday afternoon. A motorboat stationed on the banks to pull the actors out of the water developed a last-minute snag and remained ashore, resulting in the tragedy.Duniya Vijay, hero of the movie Maasti Gudi , who also made the jump with the other two, survived as he was rescued in the nick of time by a local who rushed to his help in a coracle.Officials of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, the custodian of the reservoir, said the film crew had violated the conditional approval; they had barred the crew from taking aerial shots and entering prohibited areas, including the water. Police said the three actors didn’t have life jackets on. The two who died weren’t even good swimmers.According to eyewitnesses, the actors jumped into the 40-foot-deep reservoir from a height of 60 feet, at least 200 feet away from the bank. The scene required Vijay to fight Anil Kumarand Uday Venkatesh in the helicopter. Vijay had to jump while holding the two actors by their necks.After jumping, Vijay, Anil and Uday began swimming towards the shore. However, Anil and Uday started drowning after swimming for 50 metres. A local, Ramagiri, meanwhile, rushed in a coracle to rescue them. Vijay scrambled onto the coracle. “As the coracle could hold only one more person, I brought him to the bank and returned to the middle of the reservoir only to find Anil and Uday had drowned,” Ramagiri told TOI.Anil and Uday were said to be old friends of Vijay and part of his earlier ventures. Vijay said he was too disturbed to speak to the media. A fire tender was stationed at the shooting location as part of the safety arrangements, said officers of the fire control room.TV visuals showed the two drowning men waving at the coracle as they sank under the water. Dr Chandragupta, SP, Ramanagara district, said, “a case will be registered against the makers of the movie once the bodies are found.”