KOLKATA: For the past year, Tollywood shoots have been running into trouble again and again. The tussle between the Directors’ Guild and Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEI) has led to repeated shoot cancellations. On Monday, things got disrupted once more when technicians didn’t turn up for a shoot of a song by actor-director Anirban Bhattacharya’s band. But this isn’t new. Earlier, technicians skipped Sudeshna Roy’s scheduled shoot. The same happened with Kingshuk De’s film too. “Since Sunday, technicians were not responding to my calls or messages. And on Monday, no one turned up at the shoot, which was supposed to be held at Jogesh Mime Academy,” said the ‘Mandaar’ director.
On Monday, a joint Press meet was held at the Technicians’ Studio with members from the Federation, producers, and TV channel representatives. “We’ve spoken about several issues.
If something crops up, we’ll fix it as soon as possible within 12 or 24 hours. We’ve all agreed that no TV shoot that’s already started will be stopped midway,” said Swarup Biswas, president, FCTWEI.
Biswas also mentioned that for the Federation, women’s safety is a top priority. “We’ll set up proper toilets for women technicians and make sure everyone gets healthy food in the canteen. We’re also working to bring more South and Hindi projects to Bengal,” he added. However, when asked about Anirban’s shoot being halted, Biswas said: “We weren’t informed. I don’t know why the technicians didn’t show up.”
Just a few days ago, some directors who had earlier opposed the Federation released a video saying they now support it. Was this the Federation’s smart move? “Earlier we only spoke to two representatives from the directors’ side and they weren’t passing on the full picture. That led to confusion. Now the same directors, who had misunderstood us, are with us again,” said Biswas.
He added that on July 13, which is the second Sunday of the month, the Federation will host a ‘chayer adda’ (tea session) with small-screen directors to openly discuss any issues and sort things out.