MUMBAI: Accidents on sets are nothing new. Something minor and sometimes major ones happen that cost many lives. Many onset tragedies have been reported on the sets of several shows and films as well. However, did you know there was one popular Tv production that will go down in history as the deadliest till date? It has 62 deaths on set and the show’s lead nearly died and came back to life. 

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We are talking about the show Tipu Sultan. It was directed by brother Sanjay and Akbar Khan where the former played the lead. The show also starred Shahbaz Khan, Deepika Chikhalia, Ananth Mahadevan, Mukesh Rishi, Kanwaljeet Singh, Tom Alter, Kunika, Shriram Lagoo, and Satyen Kappu.

Sadly on 8th February 1989 a fire broke out at Premier Studios in Mysore where the show was being shot.

Lack of proper firefighting equipment and the large lighting caused the fire to flare quicking costing the lives of 62 cast and crew members present on set. The production was stopped for a long time due to this tragic incident,

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Sanjay suffered major burns and was in the hospital for 13 months. He had to undergo 72 surgeries. He told later in an interview, “We never imagined that such a disaster could happen. We were horrified. I was outside the studio with my writers when I heard the commotion and went to check [on it]. There was fire everywhere. I shouted, ‘Open the barn doors’. But something hit me on the head. The rest is history.” The doctors had given Sanjay 10 % survival chances and it was only because of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who sent top doctors from Delhi, That Sanjay was saved. He was advised not to continue acting but he did act as well as direct the show which went on air again in 1990 and completed 60 episodes till April 1991.

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Credit-DNA