Director Rahool Mukherjee Back to Work; FCTWEI Lifts Ban Post CM Mamata Banerjee's Mediation

The Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEI) lifted the ban on director Rahool Mukherjee after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee intervened. Filming for Mukherjee's project, set for Durga Puja release, will resume today, Wednesday. The decision followed a meeting involving key industry figures and government officials.

Kolkata (West Bengal): The Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEI) lifted the ban imposed on director Rahool Mukherjee after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's intervention on Tuesday. As a result, Mukherjee is now permitted to begin filming his project, which is intended for release during the Durga Puja festival. The production is scheduled to resume today, Wednesday.

On Tuesday, filmmaker Goutam Ghose, actors Prosenjit Chatterjee and Dev and West Bengal Minister Aroop Biswas had a long discussion with the Chief Minister at the state secretariat Nabanna. Later in the evening, a press conference was organised at Technicians Studio and they came to the conclusion that the shooting would start on Wednesday.

In response to the resolution of this matter, filmmaker Kaushik Ganguly said, "There will be changes to the rules that have been dragging the issue for so long. No one will be fired. A committee will be formed by November. Hopefully, there will be a permanent solution to this."

Actor-director Sudeshna Roy expressed appreciation for the discussions, stating, "Twenty-five-member guilds have benefited after this discussion with the Chief Minister. We are grateful to the Chief Minister that she understood our problem. She has suggested amending several rules that have been in place for so long."

Dev stated, "No more extra money and units. No more banning of artists. No more snatching someone's two square meal."

Following this, FCTWEI president Swarup Biswas affirmed, "We intend to adhere to the Chief Minister's orders, as she serves as our guiding figure. We will have a meeting in the EC committee regarding the rest of the amendments that have been proposed. A decision will be taken there."

Earlier, efforts to address the conflict at Technicians Studios had not been successful. The impasse stemmed from technicians' refusal to work under Mukherjee, which stalled production activities. Consequently, the FCTWEI took action by prohibiting Rahool Mukherjee from directing, although he was allowed to serve as a creative producer under certain constraints for three months.

Rahool Mukherjee faced a three-month suspension from directing due to violations of established regulations, which included travelling to Bangladesh to shoot another film without notifying the federation and engaging technicians based in Dhaka for assistance.

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