Tolly shoots stalled, technicians & directors look for common ground
Times of India | 30 July 2024
Kolkata: The shutdown of shooting in Tollywood, precipitated by the absence of directors on Monday after the discord over SVF’s puja film shoot, has raised at least two pertinent questions. Firstly, why can’t Tollywood implement a system that grants directors complete autonomy in selecting the composition of their shooting unit? Secondly, if artists are not affiliated with the Federation of Cine Technicians Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEI), why are directors compelled to be part of a guild governed by FCTWEI norms?
Shooting of all mega-serials were cancelled on Monday, resulting in stars, producers, directors and technicians addressing the media repeatedly with the hope of immediate solution.Shooting for Annapurna Basu’s feature film ‘Sharthopor’, starring Koel Mullick and Koushik Sen, was cancelled on Monday. Mumbai-based Anup Singh, the film’s cinematographer, told TOI, “We began shooting on July 19. I have a card of Western India Cinematographers Association. My camera unit for this film has all guild members from Kolkata. I really hope the shooting will commence soon.”
Interestingly, no stakeholder took the blame for shooting cancellation. On behalf of Directors’ Association of Eastern India (DAEI), film-maker Arindam Sil told TOI, “We never cancelled the shoot. From hurting the dignity of one director, it ended up insulting 400 of us. We are not shooting on Tuesday and are waiting for an arbitration and immediate solution.”
FCTWEI president Swarup Biswas said, “We only followed the email sent by SVF and waited to shoot with Soumik Halder as the director. Monday’s protesters got our cooperation to do episode-banking for the mega-serials over the weekend. Despite this, why are we being blamed for the shoot cancellation?”
While the cancellation of shooting of the puja project over whether Rahool Mukherjee or Soumik Halder would direct it might be a trigger, many, like film-makers Atanu Ghosh and Bauddhayan Mukherjee, believe it is important to settle issues affecting all directors. “I believe the main issue is whether a director has the freedom to determine the composition of his unit wherever he is shooting. I feel he should, provided the individual is a member of any guild under the all-India federation,” Ghosh said. Mukherji, a Mumbai-based director who produced ‘Manikbabur Megh’ that was filmed in Kolkata, said, “A director should possess complete independence in deciding the number of people who will work in his unit.”
A grey area arises when an outstation director, like Abhinandan Banerjee of ‘Manikbabur Megh’, is not a guild member anywhere. “DAEI tells us if a director is a non-member, we should not grant shoot permission,” Biswas said. He added that all-India federation norms stipulate a card-holder at FCTWEI can work anywhere in India. Also, card-holders from other states can always work here. “There is an all-India understanding that an outstation unit shooting in Bengal must employ 30% of technicians from FCTWEI,” Biswas said, clarifying FCT-WEI has no objections if non-member directors choose their own units. “But no guild member will work for that film,” Biswas said.
“Instead of turning this into an ego issue of one director of a particular production house, reviewing these issues will serve Tollywood,” said an independent director on conditions of anonymity.