The deadlock at the Tollygunge studio para has been broken, at least for now.
The directors’ guild said its members would resume work. The announcement came after a meeting between directors and technicians at loggerheads and representatives of production houses on Friday night.
Bengal ministers Indranil Sen and Aroop Biswas, who is also the president of the West Bengal Telly Academy, presided over the meeting.
“The issue has been resolved for now. The directors are going to work again,” said Sudeshna Roy, the secretary of the Directors’ Association of Eastern India.
The association had rallied behind a couple of members whose work had been stalled, allegedly by members owing allegiance to the Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India, led by Swarup Biswas, Trinamool leader and Aroop Biswas’s brother.
One of the directors, Srijit Roy, was accused of derogatory comments against the federation, a charge he has denied.
The directors’ guild decided on Thursday that its members would stop going to shooting floors in protest. Shooting was stalled at several studios on Friday as the directors did not turn up.
“We have been asked to submit a list of anomalies affecting the work environment in the industry. We will submit it to the ministers by February 20. After that, a meeting will be held with all stakeholders. We are hopeful about a long-term solution,” said Roy.
The directors’ guild has accused the federation of acting like a regulatory body without such authority. The alleged high-handedness of the federation, which includes banning people at will, is ruining the work environment, the directors have alleged.
Swarup Biswas claims the federation safeguards the interests of its members. The federation represents 26 guilds of personnel who are part of any shoot. Technically, the directors’ guild is also part of the federation.
Joydeep Mukherjee, the director of the popular OTT series Eken Babu, one of the directors allegedly harassed by the federation, attended the meeting with the ministers at the Technicians’ Studio on Friday.
Work for his upcoming series for an OTT platform was supposed to have started on January 27. But it has been stalled because of the high-handedness of the federation, he had alleged.
On Saturday, he told The Telegraph: “The problem started because of a communication gap over perceived technical discrepancies. The federation wanted details about the producers of the series.... We will send a detailed mail with all the information as soon as possible.”