Strike cripples Tollywood films
Hyderabad: The Telugu film industry has come to a standstill again. This is the second time in less than six months that all operations and shootings have been stalled. A major number of films have been affected, including top flicks like Mahesh Babu's Dhookudu, NTR-Boyapati Srinu's untitled film, Nani's Pillazamindar, Ram-Hansika's Kandireega and Nikhil's Veedu Theda. We hear Rana-Genelia's upcoming project too has been affected by the strike. Besides, the dubbing work of Allu Arjun's much-awaited Badrinath had to be stopped.
In December, 2010, the Producer's Council called for a strike to find a solution to curb the rising costs that plague the industry. Back then, the Council decided to put an end to most perks given to actors and also requested them to slash remunerations.
Four months later, Andhra Pradesh Film Employees Federation called for a strike on April 8, demanding a hike in salaries of all its members. After days of discussions between the representatives from the Council and the Federation, a deal with 17 associations (out of 24) about the salary hike has been arrived at.
However, even after nine days, the strike hasn't been called off. Addressing a press conference, Suresh Babu, a prominent producer, said, 'We are still in talks with the Federation. Though the film industry is in loss, we agreed to give a 32% hike in salaries. Employees from 17 associations have agreed upon this proposed raise. But representatives from some, mainly lightmen, production boys, technicians, women workers and costume unions haven't accepted our proposal.
We are giving a hike more than what other film industries are offering and it's also higher than what the Labour Act proposes. Despite this offer, they haven't agreed the proposal. Even the shootings held elsewhere have been stopped. There's no unity among union leaders. The industry is suffering heavy losses. I request the Federation to end the strike as soon as possible.'
Dil Raju, ML Kumar Chowdary, Ravi Kishore and Prasanna Kumar also said that they had to bear severe losses due to the shutdown. All of them have requested the Federation to call off the strike immediately so that people, especially those who depend on daily wages, don't have to suffer. The talks are still on, but as things stand, there appears to be no sign of an end to the impasse.
News Posted: 20 April, 2011
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