Day three of the so-called Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) saw Indian TV producers rescheduling the call times to earlier than was planned. Reason: they wanted to get their cameras rolling before any of the disgruntled members of the FWICE, the AMU and the Association of Cine & TV Equipment Suppliers (ACTES) got into their disruptive acts.  Things were going fine  is what most producers said, barring a couple of incidents which were sorted with the help of the police and other supporting unions.

What pepped them up was the announcement by the Shivsena Chitrapet Sena  that they were not supporting the strike and they should be contacted in case any lumpen elements claiming to be its members created a ruckus on shoot locations. Additionally, the Indian Film & Television Directors’ Association (IFTDA) also came out and announced their disapproval in the manner in which the FWICE was conducting itself regarding the strike.

FWICE secretary B N Tiwari however claimed late in evening while speaking to Tellychakkar.com that all shooting has been stalled and those production houses which continue to shoot are doing so surreptitiously.

He further added that ACTES had got into act and its members had been visiting sets and were taking away their  lighting equipment from ongoing shoots. 

When we got in touch with the ACTES, one of its representatives revealed that the associations are going to sit together and a final decision about the strike and the participation in it will be taken later tonight.

Some of our sources revealed, the producers had seen it coming and they had prepared for the eventuality and built up a bank of episodes. Most of the edits were completed the day before. Hence, they would not be facing a problem in episode deliveries – as yet.

In a YouTube video Senior Inspector Sanjay Hazare revealed that the FWICE office bearers had hired some 15 college students who were caught red handed near Maljipada (a locality in Vasai city a suburb of Thane)  studios.

“Most of the studios that fall under my jurisdiction were partially working yesterday. When we were patrolling, I personally checked all the studios for any untoward incidences but there weren’t any. We spotted three vehicles near the Maljipada studio, there were some banners in the car and there were around 16 guys near the vehicle. When we interrogated the boys, they replied saying we had been to a studio in Kashimira and they had given us these banners and wanted us to stand here. That’s when we arrested them, when we further enquired; we got to know that these are college students, they have been given Rs 500 each and asked to be a part of this,” he stated.

Producers were slated to meet late in the evening to prepare for the next day (18 August) as they expected the stir to intensify with ACTES deciding to further intensify its involvement. 

Keep reading tellychakkar.com for further updates.