2 senior ministers step in to solve Tolly impasse

Kolkata: Two senior state cabinet ministers — power minister Aroop Biswas and information and cultural affairs minister Indranil Sen — stepped in on Friday evening to break the ongoing Tollywood stand-off, bringing the directors' and the technicians' bodies to the discussion table.
On Thursday evening, the Directors Association of Eastern India (DAEI) had announced that they would abstain from shooting unless they procured written assurance from the Federation of Cine Technicians & Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEI) regarding facilitation of work commencement for their projects forthwith and guarantee against blacklisting directors. Whilst some directors stayed away from the studio floors on Friday preceding this meeting as a gesture of protest against what they deemed as "perpetual humiliation", many serials and films proceeded with their filming schedules.
Earlier on Friday, FCTWEI president Swarup Biswas censured DAEI for the deadlock. "There are three directors who have not reported for shooting. The remainder of the work is proceeding normally. I am unaware why the directors have taken this decision without consulting us. They ought to recognise their boundaries," Biswas told media on Friday afternoon. "FCTWEI knows how to safeguard its members. Previously, technicians had to work for 18-19 hours. The federation campaigned to reduce it to 14 hours a day. For whose advantage was it implemented? They are confronting the federation, which has 8,000 members from the 28 guilds. DAEI is also a constituent of FCTWEI. Why don't they participate in the polls, secure victory and modify the rules?" he asked.
Many concur that payment defaults have been a serious issue in the industry and FCTWEI has executed a constructive role in ensuring that technicians receive their rightful remuneration. Reacting to the impasse, writer-director Leena Gangopadhyay, said: "I do not endorse the recurrent humiliation of directors by FCTWEI. I had taken an initiative to resolve the issue and spoken to the chief minister. I likewise disapprove of DAEI's resolution to abstain from the floors. They ought to have been patient." Producer Rana Sarkar remarked: "The directors had grievances regarding work being stalled and how FCTWEI was not complying with the CM's directives. Their refusal to shoot mirrored the very conduct they were protesting against."
On Thursday, DAEI had demanded that FCTWEI provide a written response to the queries raised by the association, the three "blacklisted" directors (Kaushik Ganguly, Srijit Roy and Joydeep Mukherjee) receive written assurance to commence their projects, a written guarantee against future blacklisting of any director, a compilation of technicians (for each project, film or series) shall be submitted to FCTWEI albeit without mandatory approval requirements, and productions shall not face interruption. It had additionally stipulated that should any complications arise with individual directors, deliberations would ensue, however, their ongoing work cannot be impeded.