What began as another day on the set of Love And War has now spiralled into one of the industry’s most troubling conversations, with a crew member’s death prompting the All Indian Cine Workers Association to seek legal action against Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The tragedy has jolted a high-profile film production into the centre of an urgent debate over accountability, worker protection, and safety on big-ticket Bollywood sets.
Aicwa Demands Legal Action
In its official response, AICWA sought an FIR against Bhansali and raised serious questions over on-set safety standards. The association said, “AICWA demands an immediate and impartial investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident and urges the concerned authorities to file an FIR against the producer, production house, and all those responsible for negligence.” It further added, “The life of every worker matters, and no compensation can ever replace a human life lost due to carelessness.”
The association also urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to intervene and ensure accountability. In its statement, AICWA said, “This is not just an accident, it is a wake-up call for the entire film industry.” The body also pushed for stronger enforcement of workplace safety rules across film and television shoots, especially for daily wage workers and technicians who often operate under high-risk conditions.
The deceased crew member has been identified as 32-year-old S M Raju, who was working as a junior artist supplier and lost his life after falling from a height while work was underway at the film’s set in Mumbai. With AICWA escalating the matter publicly, the conversation has moved beyond condolence and into a larger reckoning over how film sets safeguard the workers who keep them running.
When A Marquee Production Meets A Safety Reckoning
That shift is especially striking because Love And War was already one of the Hindi film industry’s most closely watched productions long before this incident. Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the film stars Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Vicky Kaushal, and is backed by Bhansali Productions as a major theatrical title. While the makers have kept the story under wraps, the film’s star power and Bhansali’s scale had made it a major talking point across the trade.
Now, however, the spotlight has turned sharply. Instead of conversation around the film’s ambition, cast, and cinematic scale, attention has narrowed to the working conditions behind the scenes and the responsibilities that come with mounting a production of this size.
So far, the makers have not publicly addressed AICWA’s demand for an FIR, leaving the industry waiting for a formal response even as scrutiny around the incident continues to build. For a filmmaker known for meticulously mounted spectacles, the immediate focus is no longer on the promise of Love And War, but on the accountability questions this tragedy has brought to the surface.
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