A tragic incident occurred recently on the sets of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s upcoming film Love & War. A 42-year-old carpenter, Chandradhari Singh Yadav, died after suffering an electric shock while working on the sets of the Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal starrer.
As per a report in The Hindustan Times, the incident occurred at Royal Pump Studio in Mumbai’s Film City while Alia was reportedly shooting. Preliminary findings suggest a short circuit caused the electrocution.
Following the death, Bhansali Productions has offered Rs 40 lakh as compensation to the carpenter’s family. He is survived by his wife and two young daughters.
The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), however, has urged the production house to increase the compensation to Rs 50 lakh. The cine body stressed that a larger sum is necessary to secure the future and education of Chandradhari’s young daughters.
Emphasising this point, FWICE president BN Tiwari, as per a report in India Today, said, “Firstly, we want the compensation to be Rs 50 lakh given his children are very young, and the family will need aide for their education. Also, we have called for stricter safety measures on set, and also have the work hours streamlined for these workers. He was such a talented technician, and it’s heartbreaking that he lost his life this way.”
In addition to financial aid, the federation has also requested that Bhansali's production house offer employment to Chandradhari’s wife. FWICE notes that a job would provide the grieving family with a reliable, stable source of income moving forward.
According to a Money Control report, the crew member had been working extremely long hours just before his accident. FWICE general secretary Ashok Dubey revealed that Chandradhari was on duty from 7 am until 3 am the following day, repeating this gruelling schedule for three consecutive days.
Bhansali’s Love & War, a period drama, is currently one of Hindi cinema’s most anticipated films. It marks Ranbir and Alia's first on-screen pairing since their 2022 film Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva. Additionally, Love & War brings Vicky Kaushal back together with both of his co-stars. He previously shared the screen with Ranbir in the 2018 biopic Sanju, and starred alongside Alia that same year in the critically-acclaimed spy thriller Raazi.
The film is scheduled to release in theatres on January 21, 2027.