Rahat Fateh Ali Khan escapes attack by a whisker
Gaurav Dubey (MID-DAY; June 13, 2016)

A shooting set at the historical Bada Imambara in Lucknow turned into a battleground on Saturday evening as a large group of irate locals attacked the film unit, leaving actor Kunal Kemmu and a handful of crew members injured. The mob went on rampage, pelting stones at the cast and crew and also vandalised the set and vanity vans.

A source says, “Kunal was filming a music video at the tourist destination with beauty pageant winner Vartika Singh when the incident took place. A group of 100-150 people descended on the set and started attacking the crew. The shoot was immediately stopped and the police had to be called in. However, by the time the cops arrived, many unit folks had been injured. Kunal sustained cuts and bruises on his arms. It was unexpected and shocking to say the least.”

Nikhil Dwivedi is producing the music video titled Saavre for which Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan has lent his vocals. Anupama Raag has composed the music and penned the song besides being the female vocalist. Apparently, Khan was on his way to the set, but was informed by the crew in the nick of time to take a U-turn and go back to the hotel where he has been put up. “We have no clue why the mob marched into our set and got so violent. The reasons are best known to them. We have lodged a complaint, nevertheless, and asked the local authorities for more police deployment till we wrap up our shoot,” a source working on the project says.

Nikhil remained unavailable for comment, but a source close to him says, “There were about three to four police constables on set, but they were no match for 100- 150 angry men. Following police intervention, the situation was brought under control. We have resumed shooting with a thick blanket of security thrown around us.”

It has been alleged that the shoot was being carried out without obtaining due permission from the local authorities. “That’s not true. We have all required permission in place,” adds the source close to Nikhil.