Kollywood crippled

Kollywood crippled

The standoff between Tamil film producers and industry workers over wages has brought the film industry here to a standstill

M Suganth and Shankaran Malini

The dispute between the Tamil Film Producers' Council (TFPC) and the Film Employees' Federation of South India (FEFSI) over a proposed wage hike has resulted in the cancellation of film shoots over the last three days. While FEFSI had proposed a hike of 50 per cent for daily wage employees earning less than
500, the producers are willing to hike the wages only by 100. The producers claim the demands are too steep but FEFSI members maintain that the proposed wage hike is nominal considering that the last hike was five years back.
We hear that the TFPC has placed a request to the chief minister to intervene. The TFPC has suggested that an independent officer be appointed to look into the wage issue and suggest proper terms.
Talking to CT, T Siva, vice president, TFPC, said, "We are not against FEFSI but they are following a tactic that can only be termed as blackmailing. We had earlier agreed that we will sort out the issue through talks and film shoots should not be disrupted. But now, the agreement has been made void by FEFSI members who have failed to turn up for shoots."
The producers claim that the current fallout is the result of an ongoing leadership struggle among the office bearers of FEFSI. "The people who are trying to get posts are wrongly projecting the wage issue among the members to further their prospects," feels Siva. Meanwhile, a release issued by FEFSI on Thursday, claims that S A Chandrasekaran, president, TFPC, has been giving incorrect information about FEFSI, with the intention of breaking the body and forming a new one. FEFSI members and their families are also planning to go on a fast at a later date in the city.
While the stalemate continues, a couple of filmmakers have decided to resume shooting by hiring unit members who agree to their terms. Filmmaker Bharathiraja is currently shooting his Annakodiyum Kodiveeranum in Theni with his own unit. While he could not be reached, a source close to him said, "Yes, he's using members who have agreed to work on the producer's terms for his films. There are other producers who are mulling to take the same route."
Nearly 15 films have been affected by the recent developments including Mysskin's Mugamoodi, Udhayanidhi Stalin's production Neer Paravai, Karthi's Saguni and Suriya's Maattrraan. However, as a special case, Mynaa director Prabhu Solomon's production Saattai has been allowed to go on with their shoot at the Neyveli thermal power station as the unit had managed to get permission after much difficulty.

Jiiva in Mugamoodi

A still from
Annakodiyum Kodiveeranum

PLAYING THE VILLAGE BELLE

V Lakshmi

After being seen in films like Valmiki and Ayyanar, actress Meera Nandhaa is gearing up for the release of her latest Tamil film, Soorya Nagaram, in which she shares screenspace with Rahul (of Moscowin Kaveri fame).
"We shot in and around Madurai for over 85 days, and it was an enjoyable experience. It's a rustic love story, and I've played a village girl in so many of my films that it comes easy for me these days! I also found it very interesting to talk with the Madurai slang," she smiles.
Meera says that she had fun shooting with Rahul for this film. "As an actress, I think it's important for me to feel comfortable with my co-star. Rahul is a very good co-star. I could say anything and everything to him, and share my concerns and worries as well. He was very understanding and helped me a lot on the sets. Director Chellamuthu was equally fun to work with," she adds.

Meera Nandhaa

STALEMATE!

Both the warring factions in Kollywood are expecting the government to step in to sort out the wage issue

M Suganth

An uneasy stalemate continues in the tussle between the Tamil Film Producers' Council (TFPC) and the Film Employees' Federation of South India (FEFSI) over a proposed wage hike for daily workers. While the shoots of most films have been cancelled for the last 10 days, G Shiva, general secretary – FEFSI, said that the association has actually not called for a strike. "In fact, we got requests from the production managers of a couple of films and we clearly mentioned that since there has been no strike declared they could go ahead with their shoots." He also added that FEFSI members will be meeting soon to decide the date and venue for their proposed one-day fast. Families of the members of the 23 unions that form FEFSI will also take part in this fast, protesting against the producers' stand.
T Siva, vice president, Tamil Film Producers' Council (TFPC), said that though the situation could not be termed as a strike, FEFSI members had failed to turn up for shoots for the past 10 days and filming of over 20 projects has been hurt. The TFPC had placed a request to the chief minister to intervene on this issue and it looks like the government will step in by appointing an arbitrator to sort out the issue.
However, the producers haven't discussed the recent announcement made by the Tamil Nadu Film Directors' Association, who had come out with their own proposal for a wage hike for directors, their associates and assistants. "We are treating it as their internal issue. However, we are confident that the government will appoint an official to arbitrate on all these issues," he
said.
MEANWHILE…
Director Bharathiraja, who chose to defy FEFSI and shoot his Annakodiyum Kodiveeranum in Theni with workers who had agreed to the terms of the film's producer, is said to have packed up after barely a week of shoot. While the official explanation given is that it is because the unit had completed the planned schedule, a source in the film's unit said, "The next schedule has not been decided yet. It depends on the availability of the artists' dates." Industry insiders allege that the director was forced to stop shooting because one of the film's actors, director Ameer, batting for FEFSI, had refused to come and shoot.

Jiiva and Vijay (right), two stars whose films are stalled due to the ongoing battle

A still from Annakodiyum Kodiveeranum

Of demand and supply

The ongoing battle in Kollywood has affected many first-timers in the industry

Sunayana Suresh

While the producers and directors may battle it out regarding increased wages for Kollywood technicians, the demands put forth by director Ameer has got many first-time producers in shock. With a minimum tab on the gross salaries and daily wages of directors and their team, producers seem to think the demands are quite absurd. The new demands state that the directors should get a minimum remuneration of Rs 10 lakh and daily wages of Rs 1,000. The demands for associate and assistant directors are also in similar fashion.
A first-time producer, who's currently readying up for his film's release, is rather miffed on the stress this puts their pockets into. "Considering most films are shot outside Chennai, how can they demand wages that are almost twice as much as they are getting now," says one such producer on the basis of anonymity.
While similar such strikes have taken place in other film industries in recent times, these producers say that the demands are not as big and the settlements have been for a reasonable 30 per cent increase.
Another first-time producer, Kalki Yuva (of the Seeman-starrer Kandupidi Kandupidi), buys the argument that filmmakers are putting in all their effort and hence deserve the money. But, he questions, "Even if we agree and give these increased wages, will this mean that the director and his team will return our money back in case the film doesn't do well and we incur losses?"
While the debate over who deserves the cake seems to be going nowhere and battle stretching into its second week, the losses suffered by first time makers seem to be the bigger bone of contention.
Take the example of the crew of Maalai Pozhithin Mayakathile, which is being made by a new team with new faces. A source from the unit says, "We had our song shoot scheduled to start from last Monday (January 23) in Pondicherry. The strike began from the same day and most of the union workers decided to leave. Our team went ahead and shot what we could, since this was a long-planned schedule to no avail. The inexperienced workers didn't help our cause as we've not completely finished the schedule and we'd have to complete the missing portions sometime again."
With so much of money talk headed nowhere and many young and new producers stuck with their schedules, wonder if this battle between the bigwigs will shift focus to the plight of these underdogs.
THE UNION'S DEMANDS DIRECTOR

• A minimum salary of 10 lakh per film

• Daily wages of 1000

• Outstation wages of 1200
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

• A minimum salary of 5 lakh per film

• Daily wages of 500

• Outstation wages of 750
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

• A minimum salary of 3 lakh per film

• Daily wages of 300

• Outstation wages of 500

A still from
Maalai Pozhithin Mayakathile

SOME RELIEF FOR BIG FILMS

The increase in the number of days in which big films can release has brought cheer

M Suganth

The Tamil Film Producers' Council (TFPC) has increased the cap on the number of days when big films can be released from five to eight. Speaking to CT, S A Chandrasekaran, president of the TFPC, said, "We had a discussion with distributors and exhibitors and they felt that allowing only five days for big films will eat into the business of the competing films. So, they requested us to add few more days to the five decided holiday dates and finally we decided to increase the numbers of days to eight. Now, in addition to the five announced dates, big films can be released on the first week of March and June and mid-December."
Out of the 142 releases in 2011, only four were superhits while four managed to be profitable for their producers. The other 134 films were more or less washouts and the major reason for this was the unavailability of screens for 70 per cent of the small films. So, in an effort to promote small films, which generally struggle to find screens, the TFPC had decided a few days back that big films should be released only on festival days and public holidays — Pongal, Tamil New Year, May Day, Independence Day and Deepavali.
The relaxation of the rule definitely will benefit star films like Dhanush's 3 and Karthi's Saguni, which are almost ready for release.

A still from 3

A still from
Saguni