Absence of the right labour laws caused rift in Bengali film industry?

Kolkata’s celebrated film industry was put to a halt for a brief period due to a rift between the technicians and filmmakers. 

HOW IT STARTED

The Federation of Cine Technicians’ Workers of Eastern India (popularly known as Federation) suspended director Rahool Mukherjee as he shot a part of his film Lahu in Bangladesh without consent from the regulatory body. This dates back to 2023, when Bangladesh’s OTT platform Chorki registered a film with the Eastern India Motion Pictures Association (EIMPA) called Lahu, to be directed by Mukherjee.  

As per Federation’s chief Swarup Biswas, Chorki failed to pay the technicians after five days of shooting in Kolkata to which the industry body reacted. Meanwhile, the Federation learnt from its sources that Mukherjee travelled to Bangladesh to complete the rest of the shoot secretively, while the regulation is to have at least 19 technicians from Kolkata for shooting abroad.

“He told us that he was on a vacation with his family. However, our sources informed that he borrowed costumes from Kolkata’s suppliers. When we caught him with the proof, he apologised. But here (in Kolkata) technicians are gig workers who work at a very nominal rate starting at Rs 150 per day. So, as he shot with the production house which failed to pay the technicians, he was suspended.”

However, in Mukherjee’s case, actor Prosenjit Chatterjee suggested alternate measures which did not go well with the Federation and the body said that the rule applies to all. This triggered the directors to boycott the shooting.

Commenting on this, actor Tota Roy Choudhury said, “Regulations are meant to benefit the workforce. However, with time, changes happen and every industry should adopt it and amend rules accordingly. In the post-Covid period, norms in every industry have changed affecting the entire workflow, and cinema is not an exception. Every segment of the Kolkata film industry needs to come together to figure out ways to combat such issues.”

WHAT’S NEXT?
 

“Federation is a union of gig workers which is important to protect the basic rights of the technicians and junior actors as they are integral parts of the fraternity. However, it is also important to revise the age-old rules and regulations as cinema is a global affair today due to the emergence of digital and OTT platform. But it is also crucial for both the sides (directors and Federation) to cooperate in order to not protect the gig workers in the industry,” said filmmaker Goutam Ghose.

Ghose, who just finished shooting an Indo-Italian film, said that a significant chunk of the shoot has been conducted in Italy, for which the majority of his crew members were Italian. However, he did not face any resistance in India. “It was convenient for both my producers in India and Italy,” he said.

According to him, though we address this sector as an industry, only the exhibition part of it is recognised as an industry and not the production. “So, we need to check whether any industrial and labour law will apply in this case. Besides, it is also crucial to rework on the limits of the Federation’s powers. A committee has been formed to look into the matter which will work with industry experts and corporate lawyers on resolve this,” Ghose added.

Chiming in, Piya Sengupta, EIMPA’s president said that boycotting shoots can’t be a solution to any issue. The entire industry runs on a gig basis. The industry needs to sit together to formulate regulations to make the production process smooth to ensure that the gig workers get paid on time.

Though shooting resumed in Kolkata on Wednesday, the fate of Lahu is yet undecided.