Bengali entertainment industry comes to a halt after directors, producers go on indefinite strike over Rahool Mukherjee issue

In a statement issued on Sunday, the Directors' Association of Eastern India (DAEI) said, "Respecting the opinions of most directors, we are requesting our members to refuse to take the shooting floor as long as the issue gets resolved."

The DAEI has, however, stated the directive was not for other language projects.

The shooting floors of various studios (Dassani, N.T. 1, Technicians' Studio) in the Tollygunge area wore a deserted look on Monday morning.

The halting of work is set to threaten the timely release of various Bengali films and web series, which are scheduled to be released in the next few months.

The airing of daily soaps is also set to be affected.

Photo courtesy: IBNS

The deadlock over Bengali film superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee's next film continued on Saturday after the film federation remained stubborn over its decision to not accept Rahool Mukherjee as the director.

Even after the DAEI on Friday lifted a three-month break of service which was imposed on Rahool, technicians, as the makers of the upcoming film claimed, refused to take the floor for the shooting of the film, which is produced by the largest production house in the market, SVF.

The situation escalated after several directors, producers and actors from the industry reached the Technicians Studios in Tollygunge, Kolkata, this morning in a show of support for Rahool, who shot to fame directing Dev starrer Kishmish.

"A narrative has been built that we are against technicians. This is incorrect. This is a very bad message which is going out to other industries of the country.

"An actor like Bumba-da (Prosenjit Chatterjee), who is now known even in Mumbai, is not able to work in his own city! This is unfortunate," said Tollywood superstar-producer Dev, who is also a Trinamool Congress MP.

Rahool was announced as the director of an untitled project starring Prosenjit Chatterjee, Anirban Bhattacharya, Priyanka Sarkar by SVF recently.

Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEI) president Swarup Biswas has reportedly claimed Rahool violated the rule by not informing the federation or the Directors' Association of Eastern India about his foreign visit for shooting.

After the ban, SVF replaced Rahool with filmmaker Soumik Haldar, who directed Abar Bibaho Obhijaan last year. Rahool was incorporated into the film as a creative producer by SVF.

Prosenjit, a giant in the Bengali film industry, was visibly upset with the technicians not turning up on the shooting floor.

"Disagreements may happen but how can work be stalled for that? I was not ready for the example, which is taking place now," the Tollywood veteran, who witnessed the highs and lows of the industry over four decades, said.

After Rahool was asked to be relieved of the director's duty, several Bengali filmmakers including Srijit Mukherji, Arindam Sil, Anik Dutta, Anjan Dutt, Kamaleswar Mukherjee had taken to social media to launch their protests.

Popular filmmaker Raj Chakraborty, who also happens to be an MLA of the TMC, has threatened to stop all works in the studio from Monday if work doesn't start with Rahool as director.

"We are giving two days' time. If work doesn't start, we will stop all shooting from Monday and will see how shooting takes place," Raj told the media in a warning to the federation.

In a press briefing in the evening following its internal meeting, the federation said it has no objection to shooting the film with Soumik Haldar as the director but not Rahool Mukherjee.

Swarup Biswas, who also happens to be the brother of TMC heavyweight Aroop Biswas, cleared that technicians have no problem with working on the project, which is yet untitled, with Soumik Haldar as the director.

Photo courtesy: IBNS

When asked about how the break of service lift on Rahool was overturned, Biswas said, "The decision to overturn can't be done in a moment as it's an organisation which has its rules.

"The decision to impose a break of service was taken through AGM. So the decision to overturn it will also have to be made through a meeting."

When he was asked for responses on the actors and filmmakers' claims, Biswas refused to give any comment saying the federation will only respond to a written statement.

Responding to the controversy, Rahool said, "I just want to make a film peacefully. Rest, my colleagues from the industry are taking care of the matter."