Pa Ranjith and three others booked for stuntman’s tragic death on film set

Filmmaker Pa Ranjith and three others have been booked by the Keelaiyur police for the death of stunt artist SM Raju on the sets of Ranjith’s new film. According to reports, the director and three others have been booked on charges of negligence, abetment of an offence and culpable homicide.

Pa Ranjith booked for stuntman’s death

Raju died while performing a stunt on Ranjith’s set during the shooting of a film which has Arya in the lead. The incident took place in Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu. The shoot was organised by Neelam Productions, and the incident took place on Sunday. A case was initially registered against Ranjith, stunt choreographer Rajkamal, Neelam Productions and Prabhakaran under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act.

A chilling video of the tragic incident went viral on social media which shows Raju’s car going over a ramp and then over turning with high impact. The crew initially did not realise the gravity of the situation, but soon rushed to rescue an injured Raju from the car. Raju was rushed to the Nagapattinam Government Medical College Hospital, where he was declared brought dead. His body has been handed over to the family after a postmortem. Based on evidence, the police have now revised the case against the film’s team, booking them under Sections 289 (Negligent conduct), 125 (Abetment of an offence), and 106(1) (Culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the BNS Act.

Prithviraj Sukumaran, Vishal mourn Raju’s death

On Monday, Prithviraj Sukumaran took to his Instagram stories to mourn Raju’s death. He wrote, “Rest in peace Raju! So many moments of magic that would have been impossible to film without your skill and guts. You will be missed forever.” The stuntman was a veteran in the film industry and had worked with almost all prominent stars in his career.

An emotional Vishal mourned the stuntman’s death and wrote on X, “So difficult to digest the fact that stunt artist Raju passed away while doing a car toppling sequence for Jammy (@arya_offl) and @beemji Ranjith's film this morning. I have known Raju for so many years, and he has performed so many risky stunts in my films time and again. He was such a brave person. My deepest condolences and may his soul rest in peace,” promising to help his family.

Stunt choreographer Silva mourned his loss on Instagram, writing, “One of our great car jumping stunt artist, S M Raju, died today while doing car stunts. Our stunt union and Indian film industry will be missing him.”