Tollygunge actors and filmmakers move to withdraw cases amid studio union dispute
Telegraph | 10 April 2026
Actors and filmmakers in the Tollygunge studios who have been out of work for several months, allegedly because of an unofficial embargo by powerful studio unions, have expressed willingness to initiate steps to withdraw cases they had filed to end this stalemate.
“We are prepared to initiate the process of withdrawing the case filed by DAEI (Directors Association of Eastern India, Film & TV) before the Competition Commission of India. We are also willing to take proactive steps to facilitate the withdrawal of the defamation cases instituted by individual directors,” the president of the Directors’ Association of Eastern India, Saibal Mitra, wrote in a letter addressed to Prosenjit Chatterjee, the working president of the Artists’ Forum.
While several such cases have already been withdrawn independently, we shall engage with the remaining members concerned and request them to reconsider and withdraw their respective cases against Mr (Swarup) Biswas, the letter said.
Biswas, the president of the technicians’ federation and brother of influential Trinammol minister Aroop Biswas, is said to control work in Tollygunge.
The president of the DAEI has said that the withdrawal of cases is contingent on an assurance that such steps would lead to the lifting of restrictions that have adversely affected not only those previously engaged in litigation but also the remaining 358 members of DAEI who have faced “significant professional disruption”.
“We believe that a principled and reciprocal approach is essential for any meaningful resolution. Therefore, we seek your assurance and active help that upon the completion of the above steps, necessary measures will be undertaken to ensure the complete and unequivocal lifting of the said restrictions,” association president Mitra wrote.
The Directors’ Association of Eastern India includes some leading names in the industry.
A section of actors and directors has been out of work for many months after a feud with the technicians’ federation, run on the diktats of Biswas.
The directors had filed a petition alleging that the technicians’ federation in Tollygunge was preventing them from working independently. The dispute between the federation and the directors has reportedly stalled several projects.
Actor and MP Dev sought to shed light on the alleged “cancel culture” in the studios at a news conference on Tuesday, saying the restrictions would be “reviewed and lifted within 72 hours”.
The directors’ association, in the letter on Thursday, stated that such developments are “constructive and encouraging”. They offer an opportunity to restore the spirit of cooperation and normalcy within the industry, association members said.
The artistes’ forum or federation, however, had made no such assurance at the news conference, primarily convened to announce the end of a cease-work call to highlight the lack of safety protocols during shoots, which allegedly led to the death of actor Rahul Arunoday Banerjee on the Talsari beach in Odisha.
On Tuesday, Biswas had made the rift between actors, directors, and technicians apparent, saying that lifting the embargo was easier said than done because what the other group had done earlier was an “attempt to take away one’s right to work and deny them minimum wages”.