AR Rahman on son Ameen’s near-miss accident: ‘World-class safety standards on Indian sets’

Music composer AR Rahman has called for better safety standards across Indian productions after his son-singer AR Ameen escaped a major accident on stage in Mumbai last week. The Oscar winner said that the incident is being investigated by the insurance company and the production house.

On Sunday, 20-year-old Ameen said in an Instagram post that he and his team were shooting for the song when “the entire truss and chandeliers” that were suspended from a crane collapsed while the singer was in the middle point. In a statement, Rahman said it was a miracle no one was injured.

“A few days ago, my son AR Ameen and his styling team escaped a potentially fatal disaster. Miraculously Alhamdulillah (by the grace of God) there was no injury after the accident at Film City, Mumbai. As we grow our industry, we need to move towards world-class safety standards at Indian stages and venues,” said the music director. “We are all shaken and await the results of the investigation into the incident by the insurance company and the production company Goodfellas Studios,” the 56-year-old added in a statement.

Ameen shared pictures from the damaged set and detailed the horrifying incident in his post. The singer went on to write that he is now safe, but he and his team are “shaken”. “I am thankful to the Almighty, my parents, family, well-wishers and my spiritual master that I am safe and alive today. Just three days ago I was shooting for the song and I trusted the team to take care of the technique and safety while I concentrated on performing in front of the camera.

“The whole truss and chandeliers that were suspended from the crane came crashing down when I was right in the middle of the place. If it had been a few centimeters here and there, a few seconds earlier or later, the entire rig would have fallen on our heads. My team and I are shaken and cannot recover from the trauma,” he said.

Ameen made his singing debut with the Tamil film O Kadhal Kanmani, the music of which was composed by his father. He has since sung in several Indian languages.