Kolkata
A controversy erupted in the Bengali film industry on Saturday with technicians refusing to join the shooting of director Rahul Mukherjee’s upcoming film in Kolkata, citing violation of prior agreements, sparking outrage among the Bengali film directors’ community against the stringent restrictions imposed by the Cine Workers Federation.
There was chaos at the Technician Studio on Saturday morning where the film’s actors, Prasenjit Chatterjee and Dev and Mr. Mukherjee arrived on the set for the first day’s shooting of the film but none of the technicians were present.
The incident comes a day after the Directors Guild lifted the ban on Mr Mukerji, which was allegedly imposed on him in connection with filming certain portions of ‘Dabangg’. Lahoo A production registered with the Eastern India Motion Pictures Association (EIMPA) in Bangladesh used technicians from that country. The move allegedly violated the norms of EIMPA and the Federation of Cine Technician Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEI).
After the Directors Guild suspended Mr. Mukherji from work, the film production company SVF Entertainment reappointed Mr. Mukherji as the film’s creative producer and appointed Soumik Halder as the new director. Mr. Mukherji is still subject to a three-month ban imposed by the FCTWEI.
FCTWEI spokesperson Sujeet Kumar Hazra said on Saturday, “The technicians are keen to work on the film, but not when Mr Mukherjee is working as the director of the film. This was the situation when the technicians arrived on the set this morning, which is why they walked out.”
Film technicians associated with FCTWEI accused Mr Mukherjee of depriving local talent by not hiring the required number of local technicians for shooting in Bangladesh, as stipulated in EIMPA rules. “When we got the call sheet for the shoot this morning, it said Rahul Mukherjee is the director. If that is the case, we will not work on the film as it is a violation of the consent,” said Anadi Sahu, a technician, on Saturday.
FCTWEI president Swarup Biswas told reporters on Saturday, “When Soumik Halder is present on the sets as the director, the technicians will resume work without any disruption. In case of any other issues, the federation is willing to hold talks with the directors to resolve them.” He added that any change in the agreement with the SVF regarding the shooting of a given film will only happen through an emergency general meeting.
“I am working very hard to make this film and I want to make it peacefully,” Mr Mukherjee said on Saturday.
Several renowned Bengali film directors like Raj Chakraborty, Srijit Mukherjee, Sudeshna Roy, Kaushik Ganguly and others gathered at the Technician Studio on Saturday morning in support of Mr Mukherjee and accused the FCTWEI of imposing stringent regulations on them and contributing to the worsening condition of the film industry.
“Are they trying to say that shooting can happen even without a director? We are giving the federation two days to reconsider its decision, after which directors will boycott shooting from Monday,” film director and Trinamool Congress MLA Raj Chakraborty said on Saturday. “If the director is not present on the shooting floor, can shooting happen?”
He said the boycott of shooting by technicians on Saturday was a direct insult to all film directors.
Actor and Trinamool Congress MP Dev said, “It is very unfortunate that shootings are being stopped today without any reason, especially when work in the Bengali film industry has already reduced. 90% of the work that used to happen in the Bengali film industry is not happening now.” He also stressed that the directors’ anger against the boycott of technicians is “not politically coloured.”
He is one of the lead actors of the film which was to be shot at the studio today. Prasenjit Chatterjee, another lead actor of the film, appealed for a solution to the issue because of the love for filmmaking. “We are all emotional people. We cannot do anything if we don’t love and respect each other,” Mr Chatterjee said.
Famous Bengali actor and director Parambrata Chatterjee claimed that such strict rules do not exist in any other film industry in India but in Bengal. He said, “Because of the federation’s rules, Bengal is the only place where producers are forced to hire more technicians than they need.”
