No hope till now for Jayabrata Das’ indie film to clear Federation hurdle

Kolkata: Debutant director Jayabrata Das, a student of SRFTI, never expected his film to get caught in such a storm. When the teaser of The Academy of Fine Arts dropped, Tollywood immediately sensed something fresh.

The trailer only amplified the buzz. It’s raw, pulpy tone reminded many of Tarantino, though Jayabrata’s desi flavour gave it a distinct identity. With top directors unveiling the trailer and both veterans and indie voices eager to watch it on the big screen, the excitement spread quickly.

The film, starring Rudranil Ghosh, Saurav Das, Payel, and Sudip Mukherjee, began as a project made by students, not an institute-backed “student film”. As Jayabrata put it: “We are indie directors who are students, but we didn’t make a student film. A student film is a product of a film institute. But we were students making an indie film.”

They shot in stages whenever funds came in, using their own money. Over time, the project grew into a full-length feature, and once the team watched the final cut, they felt it deserved a theatrical release.

To make that possible, Jayabrata partnered with Pramod Films, which he said also invested in the film. The censor certificate, posters, and title card carry producer Pratik Chakraborty’s name and his production house. And that’s where the trouble began. Just a day before its scheduled release on November 14, the Federation of Cine Technicians & Workers of Eastern India and EIMPA sent objection for its release. Shocked, Jayabrata met Federation president Swarup Biswas and EIMPA president Piya Sengupta. Their argument: the moment student filmmakers collaborate with a producer, the film becomes a commercial project. Why weren’t Federation technicians hired? Why should workers be denied wages? They even demanded the producer’s name be removed from the film and censor certificate.

As of now, there is no clarity on the release. Jayabrata’s team is waiting a couple more days for an amicable solution while seeking legal advice on how a film, which has the censor certificate can be halted from release.

Meanwhile, SRFTI students and indie directors are questioning why another Pramod Films release, Binodiini, faced no objection. With Lokkhikantopur Local up next, many expect further disputes if dues remain unsettled. Mpost