Major blaze at R.K. Studios guts reality show set

Mumbai, Sep 16 (IANS) A major fire broke out in the iconic R.K. Films and Studios in Chembur here on Saturday afternoon, BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Disaster Control officials said.

At least 11 fire tenders and ambulances rushed to the sprawling studio in north-east Mumbai and brought the conflagration under control after over an hour.

Rishi Kapoor, son of the studio's founder, the legendary Raj Kapoor, tweeted: "Sad. A major fire broke out at R.K. Studios. We have lost the iconic Stage 1. Thankfully no casualties, nor injuries. All your concerns appreciated."

The blaze has gutted one of the main shooting venues -- the set of dance reality TV show "Super Dancer Season 2", but the shooting was not underway.

The conflagration was confined to electrical wiring and installations on a 800-square feet ground floor area of the 70-year old studio.

A source from the set of the Sony Entertainment Television channel show told IANS: "No one was present on the set while the studio caught fire. There is no casualty or injuries whatsoever. Cost of damage is not ascertained yet."

The source added that the last shooting took place at the location last week, and the next shoot was scheduled for September 29 or 30.

The second season of the show, which will feature actress Shilpa Shetty, ace choreographer Geeta Kapur and filmmaker Anurag Basu as judges, is slated to go on air on September 30. Its promos are already on air.

The source added that the audition episodes have already been shot.

"The fire mishap will not delay the show, and its premiere date will remain the same," the source said.

R.K. Studio, the headquarters of the film production company R.K. Films, was founded and named after the Great Showman, Raj Kapoor, in 1948.

Its inaugural banner film "Aag" that year crashed at the box office, but the next year proved to be a good omen when its production "Barsaat" (1949), starring Raj Kapoor-Nargis was a superhit.

In fact, the company's logo was designed to reflect the poster of a scene from "Barsaat" and after that, the studio never looked back.

It had a string of successful black-and-white releases like "Awaara" (1951), "Boot Polish" (1954), "Shri 420" (1955), "Jaagte Raho" (1956).

Later, the studio was the venue for several other big ticket films like "Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hain" (1960), "Mera Naam Joker" (1970), "Bobby" (1973), the debut film for Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia, "Satyam Shivam Sundaram" (1978), "Prem Rog" (1982), "Ram Teri Ganga Maili" (1985), which was the founder-actor's last film before his death in June 1988.