No disruption in serial shoots, says technicians' body president

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Kolkata, Feb 5 (PTI) President of the Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India, Swarup Biswas, on Wednesday dismissed claims of any disruption in the shooting of Bengali serials and OTTs.

He said shoots for 34 serials are currently ongoing across various studios and termed the reports of a rift between technicians and directors as "mischievous" attempts to tarnish Bengal's image as an entertainment hub.

Asked about the halt in set work for a serial by director Srijit Roy over the past four days, Biswas denied any conflict.

He also confirmed that a movie by filmmaker Srijit Mukherjee is set to begin shooting on Thursday, and the production of an OTT series by Arindam Sil is continuing smoothly.

On alleged disruption in building the set for director Srijit Roy's serial project at Dasani Studio for four days, Biswas said he had no knowledge of the issue and suggested that it could be due to technical reasons. He also made it clear that no technicians have been banned from working on any projects.

The controversy started after Roy complained about abrupt halt in pre-shoot set design work since Sunday. This prompted directors such as Parambrata Chatterjee, Sudeshna Roy, Raj Chakraborty and actor Anirban Chakraborty voicing concerns over any "trust deficit" between technicians and directors. They claimed it led to disruptions in shooting for projects helmed by directors such as Roy and Kaushik Ganguly, with Ganguly having cancelled his film shoot in North Bengal, supposed to begin on January 29.

The five, all belonging to the Directors Association of Eastern India, sought an end to the impasse on Tuesday alleging that a section of people were instigating the technicians associated with projects of Roy and Ganguly to stop working with him.

Srijit Roy, a member of the Directors Association of Eastern India (DOAI), also expressed frustration over the halt in set construction for his serial, accusing some people of trying to disrupt his project and distorting past comments made about the Federation and Biswas.

He clarified that he shares good relations with the technicians and called for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s intervention to resolve the matter.

Director Leena Gangopadhyay, a major producer of TV serials, expressed concern over the ongoing reports of disruptions and emphasised that unresolved issues could affect the entire industry, stressing the importance of completing work on schedule to maintain healthy relationships with TV channels.

Gangopadhyay also urged everyone to work toward protecting Bengal's reputation as an entertainment destination. PTI SUS MNB