Film shootings were cancelled as producers declined to double the wages of employees
Tenterhooks the films of leading actors in the Tollywood industry - such as Kalyan Ram, NTR Jr, Ravi Teja and Allu Arjun - will be affected if the strike continues
Hyderabad: There were no shoots of the Telugu film industry on Monday due to differences between the Film Federation Employees and the Producers’ Council over pay hikes.
“On Monday, we submitted the new wages to the producer’s council and requested them to pay according to the new list,” says Rajeswara Reddy, secretary of the AP Film Federation Employees.
The Producers’ Council disagreed with the Federation and instead cancelled shoots on Monday that included two big films, the Pawan Kalyan and Venkatesh starrer-Gopala Gopala and NTR Jr and Puri Jagannath’s untitled film.
“They have called for a meeting on Monday evening and they will decide whether to stop the shootings further,” adds Rajeswara Reddy.
A source, however, said that the shooting for Baahubali went on at a private studio. The Baahubali producer is working with hundreds of junior artistes and it’s difficult to coordinate with all of them again for another shoot. The producer agreed to pay the wages that the Federation demanded, so the shooting didn’t stop.
The Telugu Film Industry Employees’ Federation had given a strike notice in August, but it was called off as producers had assured the Federation that they would look into the matter. But nothing happened.
Rajeswara Reddy, TFIEF secretary says that the salary hike is renewed with the AP Film Chamber of Commerce every three years. “The new hike was to be implemented from May but it wasn’t, leaving them with no choice but to call for a strike”.
( Source : dc )
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