The impasse in the Kolkata film industry continued on Monday, amid trading of charges between directors and technicians while no shooting was held for the last three days.

The directors said their cease work will continue on Tuesday while the technicians maintained they will not work under a filmmaker who was debarred from working by the federation of industry associations earlier this month for allegedly violating norms.

Lashing out at a section of producers-directors for ceasing work at the Tollygunge film industry in Kolkata “without notice” which brought all scheduled shoots to a halt on Monday, the federation called the move a “conspiracy”.

The federation declared that it would finalise its next move on the ongoing impasse based on feedback from its members through a signature campaign.

The announcement followed the call for an urgent need for review and arbitration of existing “rules” in the Bengali film industry which senior fraternity members deemed as a “stranglehold” of imposed norms leading to a “significant decline in investment” in the regional showbiz sector over the past decade.

“The directors decided that they will not go to the floor tomorrow also. Altogether 120 to 130 directors were present at the meeting. Everyone supported the decision since they want to work with respect. To solve this whole issue, we need the help of one or more persons who are well-versed in law and filmmaking,” director Raj Chakraborty said.

Earlier in the day, Chakraborty claimed in a press meet that filmmakers were ready for a quick resolution on Monday, but the belligerent and inflexible attitude of the federation was prolonging the matter.

"We were expecting a quick breakthrough today but the signature campaign by the federation against one of the directors and the allegations of conspiracy made against the filmmakers and producers shows they (technicians body) are yet to show any flexibility," he said.

"We are expecting the other side will show flexibility. If that happens and we can hold dialogues, the issue can be resolved," Chakraborty said adding they will favour the intervention of a third party as mediator but "he/she should have expertise.

He was seconded by directors Anjan Dutt, Arindam Sil, Goutam Ghosh, Sudeshna Roy, Anirban Bhattacharya among others.

“We are ready for talks on the issue. But why should work in the industry be unilaterally stopped at the whim and fancy of a handful of directors? This is a pre-planned conspiracy,” said Swarup Biswas, president, Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India.

Biswas told PTI that the federation is always ready for talks and resumption of work since the livelihood of 8000 technicians is at stake but the directors are showing intransigence.

"Instead of blaming and maligning us, why can't a section of directors show willingness for talks?" he said.

There was a joint meeting between the federation and the director’s guild on May 5 where it was mutually agreed that the director in question, Rahool Mukherjee, would work in the said project as a creative producer while Soumik Halder would direct the film, said Sujit Kumar Hazra, federation joint secretary.

"However, when we received the call sheet for the shoot on July 26, we found that Mukherjee had been designated as the film’s director. That was a violation of the agreement,” he said.

“The Director’s Guild was represented in the meeting by president Subrata Sen and secretary Sudeshna Roy. Both were signatories to the minutes of the meeting. For reasons beyond our comprehension, they have now taken a U-turn and chosen to call this decision unfair,” Hazra said.

Meanwhile, urging both sides to sink differences, the Eastern India Motion Pictures Association (EIMPA) said in a statement that the situation has turned very disturbing and depressing.

"We want work to resume at the earliest for the interest of everyone in the industry. And it is our sincere wish that long-standing relationships of the industry are maintained as before," the apex body of film producers, distributors and cinema hall owners said.

In a signed statement, EIMPA president Piya Sengupta stated that the film industry welfare organisation will stand by its stakeholders.

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