Tanvi Trivedi (BOMBAY TIMES; January 8, 2018)

Days after a deadly fire blazed through two restaurants at Kamala Mills Compound in Mumbai, a major fire broke out at Cinevista studio in Kanjurmarg on Saturday night. According to reports, around 150 people were evacuated after flames were spotted erupting from the generator room. The massive fire not only destroyed the set of Bepannaah, an upcoming television show, but has also resulted in the death of audio assistant Gopi Varma, whose body was recovered on Sunday morning.

The Mumbai fire brigade sent out eight fire engines and six water tankers to the spot and the fire,which broke out around 8 pm, was brought under control around 10.30 pm.The studio also houses the set of Aisi Deewangi Dekhi Nahi Kahi and Haasil,which were unaffected by the fire.

Giving a first-person account of the incident, Rajesh Khattar, who stars in Bepannaah along with, Jennifer Winget, Harshad Chopda and Sehban Azim, said, “We were on the set since 9 am in the morning and took a break around 7 pm. Around 7.30 pm we went back on the sets to shoot. Around 7.45 pm, we heard some sparks. We started running out when we saw fire break out between the ground floor and first floor. We also helped the technicians carry out the gas cylinders and the AC duct pipes before the fire brigade staff could come and help. I don’t know how it all happened, but feel sad that the whole set was destroyed in the fire.” Recalling the beauty of the set, he added, “Harshad and I would marvel at the beauty of the set. There were two sets, the one that was supposed to be my house is totally gutted. We don’t know how or when we will be able to start shooting again.”

The actor was also shocked to learn of Gopi’s death. He said, “We were continuously doing the head count, asking everyone if all had been rescued. We thought we had rescued everyone, but didn’t realise that Gopi was trapped inside. I was working with him for a month now and this is really sad. He was a sincere guy helping with the sound recordings.”

There have been fire accidents on the sets of TV shows in the past. A couple of months back, Super Dance 3 set was gutted in a fire that broke out at RK Studios.