Periodic pause: Bajirao Mastani

Disgruntled workers allegedly stalled the shoot of Bajirao Mastani twice in a day over payment issues

The shooting of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's period romance, Bajirao Mastani came to a grinding halt for the second time in five weeks after workers withdrew from the sets twice on Tuesday alleging nonpayment of wages.

A source from the sets says, " The issue has been going on for a long time. The light technicians and spot boys were not paid. The production team kept on delaying their payment and the workers were continuing without their wages. The Allied Mazdoor Union decided that they have had enough and launched a non- cooperation movement in the morning." However, the workers returned to the sets within an hour following an assurance that their payment would be cleared by evening. " But that was not to be. So, the workers resorted to a ceasework from 7 to 9pm. Later, the production team gave them a cheque of nearly R 8.5 lakh to restart the shoot," adds the source.

Allied Mazdoor Union leader, Gangeshwar Srivastav confirmed the news while Bhansali remained unavailable for comment.

On October 7, the workers had launched a non- cooperation movement on the film's sets when they were allegedly denied conveyance allowance for working on Dussehra.