A day after the cast and crew of ALTBalaji’s under production web series Fixer were attacked on set, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis has ordered an inquiry into it. The CM stated in the Assembly that Thane CP & IG Konkan have been asked for a detailed inquiry on attack. “Strict action will be taken if any police official is found responsible for delay in investigation or performing duty,” he said.
On Thursday, the team met the CM to discuss the incident. Actor Mahie Gill, Director Soham Shah, Producer Sakett Saawhney among others discussed the violence with the CM and spoke about details of the attack.
“Around 4 pm, four drunk men, entered carrying sticks and iron rods and they started assaulting us. We retracted and came out of the compound. We were threatened to leave the premises. We tried to talk to them but they started hitting us. They were hitting Mahie, and her bouncer got hurt in an attempt to save her. Our DoP has got 6-7 stitches, they hit our director with rods and he almost fainted. We had to pick him up and go out. Eventually, when they saw the police patrol van coming, they ran away. The police went inside and locked the compound from inside. We asked them to let us inside and take our equipments, vanity vans etc. but they said that the matter will be solved in court now and a case will be filed,” said the producer Sakett Saawhney.
“We were threatened to leave the premises. We tried to talk to them but they started hitting us. Our DoP has got 6-7 stitches, they hit our director with rods and he almost fainted.”
Actor Mahie Gill, who narrowly escaped the attack, said that an atmosphere of fear has been created and it needs to be corrected. She said, “It was very scary. They were hitting everyone. The reason we've come to meet the CM today is also to ensure that such incidents don't happen again. Everyone goes for shoot in those areas. I've to go there again after two days. There is an atmosphere of fear that those people have created and it is really wrong.”
According to the team of the show, the police didn’t take any action at that point and refused to allow them to take their equipment. It was only after their video went viral on the Internet, were the senior officials forced to take notice of the issue and arrest the accused.
Among the people who were injured was the director of the show, Soham Shah. Thanking the CM for his efforts, he said, “The CM personally took all the details of the incident from us and took action in front of us. So we are very happy that we'll get justice. It's not just about us. The whole film industry, right from senior actors to spot boys work there everyday. There are at least 40 shoots in Mira Road and Naigaon area everyday. This is a menace. It's like an underworld there.”
On Wednesday, in a video shared by Ekta Kapoor, the show's producer Sakett Saawhney and actor Mahie Gill alleged they were beaten up by drunk goons. “V v sad ! Violence on sets of #fixer,” wrote Ekta as the caption.
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