The Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEI) has debarred young director Rahool Mukherjee from making films for three months on the charge of violating its rules on visiting a foreign country for shooting.

Following this, production house SVF replaced Mukherjee with another director.

FCTWEI President Swarup Biswas said that neither the federation nor the Directors’ Association of Eastern India was informed by Mukherjee about his visit to Bangladesh for shooting a film, which is against the rule.

Parts of the untitled film starring Prosenjit Chatterjee, Anirban Bhattacharya and Priyanka Sarkar were shot in the neighbouring country.

When Mukherjee’s prolonged absence was noticed and he was contacted, he initially claimed to have gone to Bangladesh as a tourist, Biswas said.

“He had taken the help of the technicians belonging to Dhaka film industry for shooting the project,” Biswas said about another norm which was allegedly violated by Mukherjee.

“This is not my individual decision. Various guilds under the federation took the decision,” the FCTWEI head said.

Production house SVF which was behind the project said Soumik Haldar would now direct the film.

“In light of recent developments and respecting guidelines from our stakeholders, we….announce that Rahool Mukherjee has taken up the role of Creative Producer (for the project),” SVF said in a statement.

Mukherjee, whose romcom ‘Kishmish’ (Raisin, 2022) was a hit, did not comment on the ban but shared a social media post by veteran filmmaker Anjan Dutt and thanked him for the support.

Dutt said, “Stopping a filmmaker from working is wrong, unethical and illegal.

The young director also shared a similar post by acclaimed director Srijit which read: “Banning someone cannot be a solution, neither can clamping down on someone’s right to work. In solidarity with Rahool Mukherjee.

Director Kamaleswar Mukherjee also urged the federation to reconsider its decision.

“Investment, jobs and the number of producers are low in West Bengal. It is difficult to make a film here. If there is an obstacle in making a film, not only the director, but also the producers, actors, crew and technicians become frustrated and imperilled,” Kamaleswar Mukherjee said in a social media post.

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