Calcutta high court raps Bengal govt on film industry impasse
The Calcutta high court remarked that the state denies taking any responsibility to ensure that the industry functions smoothly
Kolkata: The Calcutta high court has made strong remarks on the West Bengal government in an order on petitions a group of directors from the Bengali movie industry had filed accusing the Trinamool Congress-controlled umbrella body of cine technicians of not letting them work since July 2024.
“From the tenor of the submissions made by the parties it appears that the state intends to wash its hands off. The state denies taking any responsibility to ensure that the industry functions smoothly. It appears that the political parties are heavily upon the state,” the single bench of justice Amrita Sinha said in its September 10 order, a copy of which was seen by HT.
The group of 13 directors include prominent figures such as Parambrata Chatterjee, Anirban Bhattacharya, Indranil Roychowdhury, Subrata Sen and Sudeshna Roy. The first two are also popular actors. The first petition, on which the order was passed, was filed by independent filmmaker Bidula Bhattacharya in April, nine months after Tollywood, Bengal’s movie industry based at Kolkata’s Tollygunge, witnessed an unprecedented impasse.
TMC leader Swarup Biswas, the younger brother of cabinet minister Aroop Biswas, is president of the Cine Technicians’ Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEI).
{{/usCountry}}TMC leader Swarup Biswas, the younger brother of cabinet minister Aroop Biswas, is president of the Cine Technicians’ Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEI).
{{/usCountry}}“The court has tried it best to arrive at a solution to the problem faced by the petitioner. The matter was referred to the principal secretary, information and cultural affairs department. The principal secretary provided an opportunity of hearing to the parties and opined for setting up of a committee comprising eminent persons from the related fields in the industry,” said the September 10 order.
{{/usCountry}}“The court has tried it best to arrive at a solution to the problem faced by the petitioner. The matter was referred to the principal secretary, information and cultural affairs department. The principal secretary provided an opportunity of hearing to the parties and opined for setting up of a committee comprising eminent persons from the related fields in the industry,” said the September 10 order.
{{/usCountry}}“The respondents raise serious objections with regard to the same. Learned senior counsel representing the principal secretary submits that the state is not obliged to resolve the inter se disputes between the parties,” the order said.
{{/usCountry}}“The respondents raise serious objections with regard to the same. Learned senior counsel representing the principal secretary submits that the state is not obliged to resolve the inter se disputes between the parties,” the order said.
{{/usCountry}}“Each and every fact, claim and allegation of the petitioner is disputed by the respondents. With such disputed factual issues, the writ petition cannot be decided. The writ petition, accordingly, stands dismissed. All connected applications stand disposed of. It will, however, be open for all the parties to take recourse to appropriate remedies available in law,” Justice Sinha wrote in the order.
The court earlier ordered the government to hold a meeting with all the parties together on July 30 and file a report during the next hearing on August 8 stating that the crisis had been resolved. The government, however, met the directors and FCTWEI members separately, prompting the court to pull up the government during a hearing on July 23. The impasse continued.
On April 3, Justice Sinha said in her first order that FCTWEI cannot interfere in the fundamental rights of directors and directed the secretary of the information and cultural affairs department to intervene.
The state challenged this order at the division bench of justices Reetobroto Kumar Mitra and Tapabrata Chakraborty. The state argued that it cannot be a party to a civil dispute between trade unions. On July 2, the division bench referred the case back to the single bench of justice Sinha.
Tollywood’s directors and actors are also FCTWEI members although they have their respective federations.
“Our lawyers are studying the court order. They will decide on the next step,” director Subrata Sen, one of the petitioners and Directors Association of Eastern India president, told HT on Friday.
No official of the information and cultural affairs department commented on the order. FCTWEI, too, did not make any statement.
The impasse started in July 2024 when FCTWEI called a strike saying Rahul Mukherjee, a young director, could not be allowed to work as director as he “violated rules” by completing the shooting of a Bangladeshi television series in Bangladesh after shooting for only four days in Kolkata.
The strike was called because the directors’ federation, which had to suspend Mukherjee for three months following FCTWEI’s decision, lifted the suspension order so that he could start shooting for another movie. FCTWEI said it had selected another person as director for that movie.
“How can the technicians’ body decide who can be a director and who cannot. This is unheard of,” national award -winning director Gautam Ghosh said on July 29, 2024. Top actor Prasenjit Chatterjee, director Raj Chakraborty, a TMC legislator, and actor Deepak Adhikari, a TMC Lok Sabha member, expressed solidarity with the directors at that time.
The directors resumed work on July 31, 2024, after chief minister Mamata Banerjee met some of them and said differences with the technicians’ body should be resolved through talks. The situation, however, did not change and the directors were compelled to stop work.
