You could say it’s come out of left field for one of the most talked-about shoots in town. The All India Cine Workers Association has told the police to put an FIR in against Bhansali following the death of a man on the Love & War set. It’s ratcheting up the pressure on safety and they won’t back down from a work stoppage till an audit is done.
Why the demand escalated
It all comes back to 17 June 2026 at the Royal Pump Studio by Film City in Mumbai, where a fatal accident put a damper on the Love & War shoot. Chandradhari Singh Yadav, a 42-year-old carpenter, was among those who didn’t make it; others were hurt. AICWA says we don’t have the whole story yet and is asking for an independent look at what transpired.
Even with Bhansali Productions having put forward Rs 40 lakh for the family, the AICWA isn’t satisfied. In a note to CM Devendra Fadnavis, president Suresh Shyamlal Gupta made his case: you can’t buy off on accountability when the facts are still being sorted and there’s reason to believe oversight was lacking.
Family at the centre
The AICWA is making a point of who is left in the lurch: Yadav’s wife and her two young girls. Since the breadwinner is no more, they are looking for more than a cheque in the mail – they want some real, material help and the kind of support that lasts.
That means a compensation of Rs 1 crore. On top of that, they are after a job or some financial aid for the widow and a long-term plan for the daughters’ well-being and security down the line. (FWICE had previously been after a hike to Rs 50 lakh.)
Allegations on safety and work hours
There is no mincing words in the AICWA’s letter. They put it out there that even with big stars like Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal in tow, the rules on the Love & War set weren’t being followed as they should be.
Then there are the hours. The letter has it that workers are in for 16 to 20-hour stints. Add in the kind of weak supervision and enforcement they describe, and you have a recipe for trouble. They want the cameras put on hold until an audit can vouch for compliance.
Not the first time, says AICWA
And if you ask the association, this is hardly a new problem. They are pointing to a record of sorts with some of the filmmaker’s more high-profile work to make the case for wider responsibility.
Then there’s the 2002 Devdas, in which Dindayal Yadav and Subhash Morkar were killed and a third was left with grave injuries. Or the 2018 making of Padmaavat, where 34-year-old Mukesh Dakiya didn’t make it. AICWA puts forward these cases to make a point: you can’t let the sheen of a prestige project in Bollywood come before the well-being of your crew.
Legal push and what AICWA wants next
The body is calling for an FIR to be put in by the police against producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, his production house and anyone else who can be held to account. The charges they have in mind are murder, culpable homicide, negligence and any other that the investigation might turn up. They also want the facts of the matter put out in the open.
Online, the association has been firm on this: an FIR is in order, as is an independent panel to get to the bottom of things. In their view, that is the only way to enforce some accountability on set.
A letter from AICWA lays out the specifics:
– An FIR for ‘murder, culpable homicide, negligence’
– A top-down, no-nonsense inquiry
– A halt on shooting until we have a safety audit
– Rs 1 crore for the family
– Some form of job or money for the widow
– Ongoing support for her two daughters
Official responses and unanswered questions
Bhansali Productions has put forward Rs 40 lakh for the family. FWICE had wanted to see that figure go up to 50. But for AICWA, a check isn’t enough; they want a probe that puts a name to the responsibility, not just a few words of sympathy.
FWICE made a note of the early report that the worker was electrocuted, but AICWA is after an independent look at what really happened. You won’t find a word from the Love & War camp or the filmmaker on these new demands, at least not yet.
What it means for Love & War
On paper, the film is a big-budget affair with all the right names. But its size is now at odds with AICWA's insistence on a work stoppage until a safety seal is in place. They are also mooting the idea of some broader checks on sets in Maharashtra so this doesn’t happen again.
Should the authorities give in to AICWA, the production will be under a microscope for everything from hours to how they run the site. It will be a test case for the rest of the industry: can you still be ambitious and safe at the same time, or do the big ones get to do as they please?
This is bigger than one movie. AICWA’s line is that you need a proper, high-level inquiry to put things right and keep the trust of the thousands of people who make this business run. Right now, it’s less about the glitz and more about who’s in charge.
