Tollywood split on TMC interference

KOLKATA: Actor-turned-politician Roopa Ganguly’s observation that Tollywood was ruled by state minister Aroop Biswas and his clique has left the film fraternity split. While some felt that Tollywood was indeed run by a ruling-party-backed coterie that sought to sideline those who didn’t side with them, others felt the opinion was exaggerated though some outsiders were using the ruling party banner to have their way.
On Sunday, Roopa Ganguly had accused Biswas of trying to control Tollywood, alleging that those who refused to toe the Trinamool Congress’ line were refused work. Actor Kaushik Sen agreed, though he maintained that he hadn’t yet faced any discriminatory treatment despite being anti-establishment. He, however, alleged that another state minister had made similar attempts to control the theatre world which thankfully fizzled out.
“He had formed a group which sought to control the theatre groups and dictate terms. It has broken up on its own,” said Sen. A reason why none tried to force him to side with the ruling party could be that he was a senior actor, Sen felt. “But I can sense that many, particularly the junior actors are facing it. More than in films, it is the TV production firms that indulge in these practices. But it is important to remember that it is not always the political parties that are doing it. Some unscrupulous leaders are using the party banner to rule Tollywood. They are bullying the junior artistes, even technicians to join Trinamool meetings and processions,” said Sen.
Actor Locket Chatterjee, who recently quit Trinamool to join BJP, said those close to the ruling party got more work in Tollywood. “The industry ambience has been vitiated by these outsiders. It wasn’t like this a few years ago. But now you must participate in Trinamool rallies and processions to receive film offers,” observed the actor.
Filmmaker Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury felt TV actors were perhaps more vulnerable than those working in films. “They work more regularly than film actors which expose them to such pressures. Honestly, I have never seen anything like this, though I can’t say that this doesn’t happen. We do keep hearing about directions to join processions which is scary,” said Roy Chowdhury.
Dwindling work has made it difficult for actors to survive and made them insecure, said Sen.
Actor Rudranil Ghosh, known to be close to the ruling party, said Roopa Ganguly’s allegations were baseless and she will never be able to prove them. “She is too big an actor and too important to be ignored by Tollywood. If there was indeed a bias against anti-Trinamool actors, then Saumitra Chattopadhyay would have been affected, too. Roopa di has been close to CPM and she has consciously stayed away from all state-sponsored functions. She has made no bones about the fact that she would not like to be a part of anything organized by Trinamool. Now that she has joined BJP, this seems to be a political strategy on her part,” said Ghosh.