Kolkata: A week after actor Rahul Banerjee‘s death while shooting ‘Bhole Baba Par Karega’, the investigation has intensified following the filing of two FIRs and the decision to halt all shooting from Tuesday to demand safety on sets. In the midst of public interest in the circumstances surrounding the actor’s passing, one of the two co-actors who witnessed the incident has broken his silence to describe it as an “accident”.Siddartha Sen, who plays the former partner of Rahul’s on-screen wife, said, “This was an accident. It was no one’s fault. Not even Rahul-da’s. I feel so bad for Rahul-da’s son. What is that kid going through? Everyone is in trauma. We saw the accident happen in front of our eyes. I am still not able to sleep at night. It is sad to see whatever is coming out in the media and what people are saying. That very night, cops came to our hotel to investigate. I was there along with our DOP and director.”Rahul and Shweta were shooting a honeymoon scene in Talsari. Sen shot for the serial in Feb but did not shoot in Kolkata in March. “This outdoor was my introduction to the entire family. In the serial, my character was supposed to bump into Shweta’s character. The unit was supposed to be near the beach. I think this was the final shot. The idea was to take a drone shot and wrap it up. Rahul-da was not supposed to go so deep into the water. And the water was supposed to be below the knee,” he said. On being asked if it had been part of the script, he said, “No, it wasn’t. There were 35-40 people on set that day. None of us know why he went to that level. Since it was a drone shot, we were some 15 ft away, so that we were not visible in the zone.” He said the crew started screaming and asking Rahul not to go further. “When we figured out they could be drowning, many jumped into the water. I did too, but couldn’t go far. People from the production — setting boys and electricians — also jumped in,” he said.According to Sen, both his co-actors were rescued. “The boat brought them to the beach and CPR was performed. Rahul-da was alive, gasping and vomiting, when he was brought to the beach. Everything was done as fast as possible by the crew and the locals. There was no time lost. This was a pure accident. The entire set and people around gave it all to try to save him,” he said.
