Rahul Banerjee death: Tollywood calls off strike, to draft safety SOP soon
KOLKATA: Tollywood studios wore a deserted look on Tuesday as actors, directors, and technicians across the Bengali film and TV industry observed a cease work. The day-long strike was called to demand stronger safety and security measures for all stakeholders during shoots, following the tragic death of actor Rahul Arunadoy Banerjee. He drowned in the sea at Talsari beach on March 29 while shooting for the TV serial ‘Bhole Baba Paar Karega’.
Padma Shri awardee Prosenjit Chatterjee announced that normal work would resume from Wednesday. However, he made it clear that Magic Moments Motion Pictures, the production house behind ‘Bhole Baba Paar Karega’, has been banned by the industry. As a result, no one will work with the serials associated with screenwriter and creative head Leena Gangopadhyay. “We will not work with anyone associated with the said production house. We demand clear answers on what exactly happened that day at Talsari beach. It has been nine days, yet there has been no accountability. Priyanka also deserves convincing answers,” said Prosenjit.
He had accompanied Rahul’s wife, actress Priyanka Sarkar, to Regent Park Police Station and Talsari Police Station while she filed an FIR in connection with the drowning. Several actors, including Ambarish Bhattacharya and Reshmi Sen, have already distanced themselves from the production house. It is to be noted that since the accident, several contradictory statements have been made by the said production house.
Though it was a cease work on Tuesday, Tollywood members gathered at Technicians’ Studio at 10 am on Tuesday for a series of meetings to draft SOP for on-set safety. The discussions saw the presence of senior figures such as Ranjit Mallick, Prosenjit, Dev, Chiranjit Chakraborty, Rituparna Sengupta, and Shantilal Mukherjee, along with Swarup Biswas of the Federation of Cine Technicians & Workers of Eastern India and Piya Sengupta of EIMPA.
Prosenjit said that discussions with TV producers are nearing completion and an SOP is expected within 15 days, while a separate framework will be developed for films. “Today, we have all come together under one roof and that has been possible because of Rahul. His passing has united us,” he said. Priyanka was also present at the meeting.
Meanwhile, actor-politician Dev said that Prosenjit would speak to Swarup Biswas to address the issue of “unofficial” bans on certain actors and work towards lifting them within 72 hours. Notably, actors such as Anirban Bhattacharya and Riddhi Sen have reportedly been facing such restrictions. Responding to this, Biswas said that the matter should have been raised earlier, especially when several actors and directors had moved court against the Federation last year.
