Actor Akshay Kumar’s 2010 film Kesari, detailing the 1897 Battle of Saragarhi, showcased several war scenes. During the filming of the climax battle scene, the set of the movie was destroyed by a massive fire in April 2018. Fortunately, no casualties were reported, but the incident led to a reported loss of around Rs 8 crore. In a recent interview, SFX supervisor Vishal Tyagi recalled the fire, which the team had to watch for two hours because there were zero safety measures on the set.During a candid chat with Hindi Rush, he shared, “We were shooting for Kesari in Hawai. We had to film a big explosion. Initially, we were about to put a separate wall, but didn’t have the budgets. So, we decided to do the explosion on the wall of the set only. After that incident, I learnt how to say no on that set, I never used to say no earlier.”He further added, “There were no safety measures on the set. I told them that we should get the motor and pipes from Mumbai, but they said that there are no budgets for this. When I was fixing the set for an explosion to shoot in the evening. Then, a foreign action-director came to me and said that there should also be a fire element in this.”ALSO READ | ‘Embarrassed’ Priyanka Chopra was yelled at by the choreographer on set; he said she ‘drove me nuts’While there were no casualties due to the fire, Tyagi revealed that it taught him to say no to certain things. “I didn’t calculate that the wall was made of PV foam and it is highly flammable. I hadn’t put petrol, but did it using gas poppers, but one spark made it catch fire. They had no safety measures, and even the fire marshal had one powder cylinder, which can’t even reach heights. The entire crew saw the set burning and destroying for two hours. There was no casuality because it started burning slowly and the set was out in the open.”However, when Dharma Productions, Kesari’s producer, blamed Tyagi for the fire, he received support from director Anurag Singh. “Since that day, I learnt to say no – that if you don’t have safety, I won’t do the blast. I was not the villain in that incident, but I was blamed for the fire. Dharma people questioned me, ‘What have you done?’ But, the director supported me and said that this wasn’t only my fault. Then, everything cooled down and no one said anything to me,” the SFX expert said.Akshay Kumar’s Kesari also featured Parineeti Chopra in a pivotal role. Directed by Anurag Singh, produced by Karan Johar, Aruna Bhatia, Hiroo Yash Johar, Apoorva Mehta, and Sunir Kheterpal. The film’s spiritual sequel Kesari Chapter 2: The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh, hit the theatres on April 18, 2025. It is a historical courtroom drama was helmed by debutant Karan Singh Tyagi.Click here to follow Screen Digital on YouTube and stay updated with the latest from the world of cinema.© IE Online Media Services Pvt LtdTags:Akshay KumarKesari