Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; April 25, 2017)

Celebrated as an action hero, Akshay Kumar has a long experience in performing stunts in films. The actor has, for the past few years, also been vociferous about the hazards that stuntmen face on a daily basis, including the lack of insurance cover. Now, he has come up with a unique initiative — an insurance scheme for stunt artistes in Bollywood — in collaboration with cardiac surgeon Dr Ramakanta Panda. An amount of Rs 6 lakh will be provided to a stunt artiste for physical injury or accident on set; in case of death, the compensation has been set at Rs 10 lakh.

“If there was no stuntman, there would be no hero. When a romantic hero does romance, he is not risking his life. A stunt artiste is,” Akshay said.

The star also rued the fact that no award show felicitates them. Ejaz Gulab, general secretary of Movie Stunt Artiste Association, says, “We had approached many insurances companies in the past for our members’ security, but none cooperated. We are thankful to Akshay for securing our lives.”