News

A fire broke out late Monday afternoon on the premises housing the sprawling temporary sets of director Nitesh Tiwari’s magnum opus Ramayana, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Sai Pallavi.

The blaze erupted around 4:00 PM behind Prime Focus Studios and Reliance MediaWorks inside Film City, Goregaon East, sending thick plumes of black smoke into the air and triggering brief panic across nearby production units. Officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Mumbai Fire Brigade confirmed that the Level-I fire was brought under complete control within 50 minutes, with no injuries or casualties reported.

According to the disaster control room and the Mumbai Fire Brigade, the blaze did not originate on the primary soundstage where key mythological sequences are mounted, but in an auxiliary operational setup:

The Focal Point: The fire broke out in a 100x20-foot temporary Production Control Room (PCR) unit and tents pitched outside the studio floors.

Material Damage: The flames consumed electric cables, wiring installations, wooden planks, bamboo framing, air-conditioning compressors, sound systems, and auxiliary shooting equipment before emergency teams isolated the line.

Response Mobilization: Fire tenders, local police units, BMC ward officials, and 108 ambulance teams rushed to the site, fully extinguishing the blaze by 4:55 PM.

Confirming the incident, B.N. Tiwari, President of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), described the blaze as minor but cautioned production teams against ongoing lapses in on-set electrical safety:

“The fire broke out in one of the tents outside the studio premises rather than the main set itself. Fortunately, no one was hurt and the damage was minor. However, this happened despite our recent warning issued to producers following a fire at a nearby location a few days ago. Due to carelessness, this incident occurred. It must serve as a serious warning to this team and other production units to follow mandatory fire audits and take adequate safety precautions.”

The studio compound was also hosting ongoing shoots for reality and television programming, including MTV Hustle and Pati Patni Panga, which briefly halted operations while smoke was evacuated from the perimeter.

Film City’s temporary structures and heavy power loads have long made outdoor auxiliary tents vulnerable to short circuits. While the rapid emergency response averted major physical loss or disruption for Ramayana, the incident underscores the urgent need for stricter enforcement of FWICE’s electrical safety mandates as large-scale studio productions ramp up ahead of the busy festive season.