Rahool Mukherjee vs Federation: Srijit Mukherji, Debaloy Bhattacharya, and others gear up to take on the ‘highhandedness’ - will they succeed?

By shooting Chorki’s Lahu in Bangladesh, director Rahool Mukherjee has kicked the hornet’s nest. On July 20, the Federation of Cine Technicians & Workers of Eastern India issued a notice of suspension of work for Rahool for three months for ‘unlawful shooting’ in Bangladesh. By July 23, a large number of directors, including Debaloy Bhattacharya, Srijit Mukherji, Kaushik Ganguly, Arindam Sil, Anik Dutta, and others condemned the ‘ban’ on Rahool and teamed up to save the sovereignty of the filmmakers — which is evidently difficult as the Directors Association Of Eastern India is just another body under Federation.

Suspention of Rahool Mukherjee and how it started

It all started when SVF announced its upcoming production, featuring Prosenjit Chatterjee and Anirban Bhattacharya, on July 17. Rahool was scheduled to direct the film. After he received the ‘suspension’ email, SVF announced that DOP Soumik Halder would direct the film, while Rahool would work as the creative producer – a rank beyond the Federation’s jurisdiction. It was later reported that the officials of the Federation refused to allow Rahool to continue with the project even with a new designation.

Also read; Rahool Mukherjee out of directing the Prosenjit Chatterjee-Anirban Bhattacharya project 

Srijit Mukherji, Debaloy Bhattacharya, and others stand by Rahool

In a time of this roadblock, directors, including Debaloy, Raj, Srijit, Kamaleshwar, and others, along with Sudeshna Roy – general secretary of the directors’ association and vice president of the federation – are scheduled to meet on July 25. Srijit, while talking to OTTplay, said, “I don’t support the ban and any action that might take away the right to work. Debaloy told us about the meeting and I intend to attend.” More voices are coming out in the open against the top mandarins of the Federation.

As per our sources, the directors in solidarity with Rahool will put pressure on the Federation to lift the suspension order. According to a source close to the directors’ association, if their demand is not met, the filmmakers may resign from the Federation and form their own guild, similar to the West Bengal Motion Picture Artists Forum.

Is Federation the new villain of Tollywood?

A series of directors, actors, and other members of Tollywood termed the Federation’s action ‘fascist’ and called their action, ‘high-handed’. “They (the Federation) have no right to ban a person from work. Who gave them that right to ban a director from making a film?” asked Debaloy. Kaushik Ganguly upheld the idea of the freedom of an artiste, while Riddhi Sen called the Federation ‘Taliban’.

Meanwhile, Swarup Biswas – president of the Federation and one of the key members of the Bengal ruling party – maintained that the Federation only followed the guidelines. “I do not know who is calling us Taliban. Hence, I will not comment on this. But please understand we followed our rulebook. Rahool went to Bangladesh to shoot a web series that started in Kolkata. He did not take most of the other Kolkata-based technicians with him. There were reports of nonclearance of payment by the producer. And yet, he went ahead and completed the shooting. Initially, he lied to the Federation and said he went there for other work. Finally, he confessed. His suspension adheres to the Federation guidelines. He is not the only one but other technicians also faced similar suspension orders in the past for similar unlawful shootings,” Swarup told us.

Also read: Rahool Mukherjee turns Creative Producer of SVF’s latest with Prosenjit Chatterjee and Anirban Bhattacharya | Deets inside 

A technician who did not want to be named, said, “There cannot be one rule for us and a different rule for the directors. Not so long ago, more than 10 technicians were suspended for ‘unlawfully shooting’ without disclosing their schedule. We call it ‘gupi shoot’ (shooting in clandestine mode). When those people were punished, no one uttered a word. There was no protest. Why should the directors be treated differently when they are under the same law?”

The backstory of Rahool Mukherjee’s Lahu that irked the Federation

It all started last year when Bangladeshi OTT platform Chorki initiated a web series Lahu, directed by Rahool. There were disagreements between the Federation and Chorki over the payment regulations. Chorki started the work with the local pay structure. However, the Federation claimed that they would have to pay more (reportedly four times more) since it is a foreign production. The shooting was stalled after four days by the Federation. Later, Rahool and his team, including DOP Madhura Palit, went to Bangladesh in April this year and did the shooting. In fact, according to a few members of the Federation, Madhura might also face a similar suspension order.

According to a young editor who did not want to be named, such steps are detrimental to the industry. “There is limited money and turnover in the Bengali film industry. We are so poor that we cannot even afford a healthy timeline for shoots and cut costs from everywhere. If houses like Chorki invest in Tollywood, we will benefit. Now that Chorki is gone and most of their productions are shelved, we, the technicians, are missing out,” they said.

What does the Federation president say?

When asked about the dispute over the payment of Chorki, Swarup said, “Their officials and Federation members started discussing the payment. However, they simply discontinued the shooting. Later, Chorki collaborated with SVF and conducted some shootings of Toofan in West Bengal. There was no problem there. After discussions with the Federation, they paid 2.5 times the local payment since it is a foreign production.”

The Federation and filmmakers tiff is not new

Controversies over the Federation’s alleged muscle flexing is not new in Tollywood. Producers and artistes often complain that the Federation arrogantly insists on recruiting too many heads for a film production. In 2015, a shooting of a Bengali film in London was stalled by the Federation officials. In 2021, ace filmmaker Aditya Vikram Sengupta opened up about the ordeal he faced from the Federation while he was making Once Upon A Time In Calcutta. There have been sporadic events of complaints from the Bengali film fraternity against the Federation, which doesn’t have a political banner but is known to be run by people close to the ruling party. Tollywood has always maintained its closeness with the current ruling party. The ostensible presence of stars in political and quasi-political rallies has been rampant. Yet, the Federation dictated the terms in filmmaking, sometimes allegedly forcefully.

What happens next?

According to sources, senior members of the industry – a veteran producer, a senior actor, and the Federation members met on July 23 at night but that meeting could not yield any resolution. The federation members allegedly stuck to the point that Rahool would have to face the suspension order. Moreover, they also reportedly made it clear that no technician would work with Rahool even if he works in the capacity of Creative Producer.

Amid this, directors will meet on Thursday to find a solution. According to a filmmaker who did not want to be named, there is a chance that the directors decide to resign if their demand to absolve Rahool from the ‘ban’ is not met. Some of them are also looking at the possibility of forming their own guild outside the Federation like the Artists’ Forum. Only time will decide the future of Rahool vis-a-vis SVF’s upcoming film.