Directors of Bengali films, TV soaps, web series not to attend shooting floors from Friday

Kolkata: Hardening their stand following halt in shoots of a TV serial and film due to non-participation of technicians, the Directors Association of Eastern India (DAEI) has decided to stay away from studio floors from February 7.

It may have an effect on the shootings of films, television serials and web series from Friday.

In July last year, the directors had announced an indefinite cease work following the refusal of the technicians’ body to work under a particular director. The impasse ended after three days following the intervention of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The latest disruption in the Kolkata entertainment industry followed a complaint on Facebook Live by director Srijit Roy about an abrupt halt in pre-shoot set design work of his TV serial since February 2. Directors Kaushik Ganguly and Joydip Mukherjee also had to shelve their plans to start shoots last month due to the absence of technicians.

“The DAEI held a meeting yesterday. We decided that none of our members will be present at shoots of their projects from today,” senior film-maker Sudeshna Roy told PTI.

The affected directors – all members of the DAEI - had claimed they were faced with the crisis situation for criticising certain diktats of the Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India.

After Roy made his accusations against technicians, the Federation’s president Swarup Biswas, who is the brother of senior Trinamool Congress leader and minister Arup Biswas, had dismissed claims of any disruption in shooting.

The DAEI members alleged that a section of Federation top brass were instigating the technicians associated with the projects of Roy and Ganguly to stop working with them, which is both insulting to the directors and made them incur huge financial losses.

"We feel insulted at the turn of events. Directors are called captains of the ship. Filmmakers like Kaushik Ganguly (winner of several national awards) don't deserve such treatment. It will be in the fitness of things that directors also stay away from shoots unless our demands are looked into in writing," Sudeshna Roy said.

She said the directors demand, among others, written assurance by the federation about facilitating start of work for their projects soon, written promise that no director can be blacklisted by verbal or written order.

"We also feel if the federation has any objection about any particular director, that has to be conveyed to the DAEI which will initiate talks with the federation on the issue," Sudeshna Roy added.

Directors Parambrata Chatterjee, Sudeshna Roy, Raj Chakraborty and Subrata Sen were present at the meeting among others.

They voiced concerns over “trust deficit” between technicians and directors and vowed to stay away from shoot.

Director Leena Gangopadhyay, also a major producer of TV serials, earlier expressed concern over the ongoing reports of disruptions and emphasised that unresolved issues could affect the entire industry, stressing the importance of completing work on schedule to maintain healthy relationships with TV channels.

In July last year, the directors had gone on cease work after the technicians said they would not work under a filmmaker who was debarred from working by the federation earlier this month for allegedly violating certain norms.

The impasse ended after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked both sides to hold talks. She also set up a committee to examine the contentious issues and find a solution acceptable to all. It is, however, alleged that not a single meeting of the committee was held since it was set up.