600 staffers of ‘banned’ production house on edge, Tollywood debates ‘cancel culture’
Times of India | 9 April 2026
Kolkata: At least 600 workers in Kolkata and Mumbai have lost work after Tollywood decided not to work with Magic Moments, the production house behind Rahul Banerjee-starrer ‘Bhole Baba Par Karega'. The move has triggered criticism over Tollywood's cancel culture and why Odisha Police allowed the Talsari shoot if permissions were missing.
The fate of 12 actors and directors ‘banned' by the Federation and some 600 out of work due to the ‘non-cooperation' decision has left the industry divided. Actor and Forum member Rwitobroto Mukherjee said he opposes banning actors and directors, and argued that refusing to cooperate with a production house is a form of cancel culture but not the same as banning individuals. "The production house avoided the Forum's questions, spread falsehoods, and failed to apologise. The Forum doesn't have any other option but to respond similarly to any other production house behaving as arrogantly if such a situation arises later," Mukherjee said.
As of now, Magic Moments Motion Pictures Pvt Ltd can't shoot ‘Bhole Baba Par Karega', ‘Chiroshokha' and ‘Jhanak'. Organinc Studios Pvt Limited — another company helmed by Leena Gangopadhyay, Saibal Banerjee and Arka Ganguly — had to stall shooting of ‘Kone Dekha Alo'. ‘Chiroshokha' actor Raja Goswami did a FB Live on Wednesday narrating the trauma of out-of-work workers of his serial. Diganta Sinha, the director of ‘Chiroshokha', ‘Jolnupur', ‘Keya Patar Nouko', ‘Istikutum', ‘Chokher Tara Tui' and ‘Phagun Bou', said, "I went for the meeting on the safety and security SOP and returned home jobless. I started as third assistant and have now become a director. I have two daughters and an EMI. Who will pay their fees? Who will give me a job? We have sent letters to the Federation and the Forum explaining our situation."
Actor Rohaan Bhattacharjee cited his own 2012 accident while shooting ‘Neel Lohit' on a railway track without permission between Prantik and Bolpur. "A speeding Darjeeling Mail hit me and threw me about 20 feet. Most fled the scene. Instead of arranging immediate surgery, director-producer Bishnu Pal Chowdhury asked me to return to the set the next day with medical support. The delayed surgery left my arm immobile for a year. The glorification of heroes doing stunts and risky shoots by technicians and senior actors has to stop," he said.
Rahul's co-actor, Sweta Mishra, has shared the Forum's statement seeking justice on social media but not her own account of the event. Actor Sohan Bandyopadhyay, who took to social media to reject claims that there was no safety SOP, saying an existing 2021 agreement between the Forum and producers already covered risky shoots and made production houses fully responsible, wrote, "Why isn't the Forum calling her to find out the truth? I assume she is mentally distressed. But Rahul's family is in an even worse situation than she is. If necessary, make her sit in front of a psychiatrist, with a doctor by her side, and ask her questions."