Directors’ Guild sends defamation notice to Swarup Biswas

KOLKATA: Two weeks ago Swarup Biswas, president of the Federation of Cine Technicians’ Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEI), announced the formation of the ‘Surakkha Bandhu’ (Protection Friend) committee to combat incidents of sexual harassment and indecent behaviour in Tollywood. Following the committee’s formation, Biswas told several media outlets that 60 per cent of recent sexual harassment allegations are against directors and director-producers. Now, this statement has not gone down well with the directors in the Bengali entertainment industry, and on Sunday, the Directors Association of Eastern India (DAEI) decided to issue a defamation lawsuit notice to Biswas.

The notice has been signed by over 63 directors including Haranath Chakraborty, Kaushik Ganguly, Anirban Bhattacharya, Subrata Sen, Sudeshna Roy, Pratim Dasgupta, and Parambrata Chattopadhyay, among others. It includes detailed complaints and outlines the legal steps to be taken. The notice also has a reference to the incident involving director Rahool Mukherjee, who was recently banned by Federation.

In fact, the directors have collectively taken this legal step against Biswas, who allegedly questioned whether the directors were even members of the organisation, which the guild found objectionable. Biswas has also chosen to address the issue through legal proceedings.