Reality show set gutted at R.K. Studios
SUPER DANCER REALITY SHOW STILL SLATED TO AIR ON SEPTEMBER 30 DESPITE DAMAGE
Wiring and installations on a 800-square feet ground floor area of Super Dancer Season 2 set destroyed |
Amajor fire broke out in the iconic RK Films and Studios in Chembur yesterday afternoon, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Disaster Control officials said.
At least 11 fire tenders and ambulances rushed to the sprawling studio in north-east Mumbai and brought the blaze under control after an hour.
Rishi Kapoor, son of the studio’s founder, the legendary Raj Kapoor, tweeted: “Sad. A major fire broke out at RK Studios. We have lost the iconic Stage 1. Thankfully no casualties, nor injuries. All your concerns appreciated.”
The blaze has gutted one of the main shooting venues — the set of dance reality TV show
Super Dancer Season 2, but shooting was not underway.
The conflagration was confined to electrical wiring and installations on a 800-square foot ground floor area within the 70-year old studio.
A source from the set of the Sony Entertainment Television channel show told IANS: “No one was present on the set while the studio caught fire. There is no casualty or injury whatsoever. [The] cost of damage is not ascertained yet.”
The source added that the last shooting had taken place at the location last week, and that the next shoot had been scheduled for September 29 or 30.
The second season of the show, which will feature actress Shilpa Shetty, ace choreographer Geeta Kapur and filmmaker Anurag Basu as judges, is slated to go on air on September 30. Its promos are already being aired.
Auditions ready
The source added that the audition episodes have already been shot. “The fire mishap will not delay the show, and its premiere date will remain the same,” the source said.
RK Studio, the headquarters of the film production company RK Films, was founded and named after the great showman, Raj Kapoor, in 1948.
Its inaugural banner film Aag that year crashed at the box office, but the next year proved to be a good omen when its production Barsaat (1949), starring Raj Kapoor and Nargis, became a superhit.
In fact, the company’s logo was designed to reflect the poster of a scene from Barsaat and after that, the studio never looked back. It had a string of successful black-and-white releases like Awaara (1951), Boot Polish (1954), Shri 420 (1955), Jaagte Raho (1956). Later, the studio was the venue for several other big ticket films like Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hain (1960), Mera Naam Joker (1970), Bobby (1973) — the debut film for Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia, Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978), Prem Rog (1982), and Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985), which was the founder-actor’s last film before his death in June 1988.