The unthinkable happened to Prosenjit Chatterjee on July 27. One of the stars of modern Bengali cinema, the actor returned without shooting after waiting for long for technicians to arrive at a film studio in Tollygunge, south Kolkata.
Renowned Bengali film director Rahul Mukherjee faced a similar situation at eastern India’s oldest technician studio. Mukherjee knew he was the main reason behind the studio being locked down, with 50-60 people staging a protest. The Federation of Cine Technician Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEI) had banned him from the Bengali film industry – commonly called Tollywood – for three months for violating its norms during the filming of a Bangladeshi series. Blood. The ban was lifted after Mukherjee apologised in writing.
The federation’s first condition was that all filmmakers from Bengal must take local technicians for shooting outside West Bengal, in India or abroad. The second condition was that directors from outside Bengal must hire local technicians if they shoot in the state. The justification was that these conditions would help retain technicians as there is very little work available in the Bengali film industry these days. Film producers and directors complained that the conditions forced them to hire some technicians they did not need and pay them less to avoid being banned by the federation.
Matters reached a boiling point when some producers and directors defied the federation’s order, leading to a lockdown of studios. Nearly a week of uncertainty ended when chief minister Mamata Banerjee intervened and film shoots resumed on July 31. “From directors to light boys and sound recordists and hairdressers and spot boys – all stakeholders will now work in unison, leaving no room for conflict or misunderstanding,” veteran director Gautam Ghose said after meeting the chief minister.
But the impasse has left many in the film industry with a sour taste in their mouths. “I am trying to make a film through a lot of difficulties. I should be allowed to shoot the film in peace,” says Mukherjee.
Actor and Trinamool Congress MP Dev says, “Stopping shooting without any reason is unfortunate, especially when work in the film industry has reduced by 90%.” He insists that the technicians’ boycott was not politically motivated. Renowned filmmakers and actors like Raj Chakraborty, Srijit Mukherjee and Kaushik Ganguly believe that the impasse could have been avoided.
Krishna Narayan Daga, former president of the Eastern India Motion Pictures Association (EIMPA) and owner of production company Daga Films, says producers are losing interest in making films because of the federation’s strict conditions. “As per the rules, we are required to hire female makeup artists even if there are no female actors in the film,” he says.
“It is only in Bengal that producers are forced to hire more technicians than required,” says actor-director Parambrata Chakraborty.
FCTWEI president Swarup Biswas rejects the charge that the federation’s conditions are unfair. “There is a nationwide understanding that any outside entity shooting in Bengal should employ 30% of our members (over 4,000) as technicians,” he says.
The complexity within
Some technicians say filmmakers complain about expenses without giving them their due. “Technicians barely earn Rs 1,000-1,500 per day after working double shifts,” says cinematographer Soumya Barik, who has quit the Bengali film industry after a decade. He says technicians do not get respect for their hard work.
“A film is not just about the director and the actors. The blood and sweat of the technicians give life to films,” he says. The treatment of technicians often leads to turmoil and discontent in the industry, says the cinematographer, who has three films to his credit – Katti Nritya, window, And Miss Khan, now smile – Stored at the Margaret Herrick Library in California, USA
Actors, directors and producers say respect has to be earned, not demanded. They feel the tendency of technicians to act like a syndicate and impose rules on the industry makes it difficult for them to be held in high esteem.
Actor Anirban Chatterjee says, “Rules are like a disease that keeps coming back. Now is the time to get to the root of the problem, give the right medicines, take a break if needed, and get back to work healthy.”
“A committee will be formed to make changes in the rules of the federation and make the working more smooth and practical for all stakeholders,” says Dev.
Recruitment of technicians, who are worried about their future, is not the only problem facing the Bengali film industry. The industry is hampered by the closure of single-screen cinema halls and low-quality output.
Low single screen
Most Bengalis watched this movie in Kolkata PikuThis relates to what lead actress Deepika Padukone says in a scene in the Shoojit Sircar-directed Hindi comedy-drama, set in New Delhi’s Chittaranjan Park: “There used to be a cinema hall here. Now there’s some building there.” It seemed as if Padukone’s character was referring to Madhuban or Pushpashri, cinema halls in south Kolkata that had shut down by the time the film takes place. was released in 2015. Since then, the banyan tree sticking out of Madhuban’s facade has grown larger and the structure — the paint on its walls peeling off long ago — has become more decayed.
Pushpashri has the look of a haunted house, where stray dogs occupy the creaking seats for which movie lovers once queued up outside the ticket counter.
An assistant working here, who now does a menial job and does not wish to be named, says, “I used to take pride in watching all the movies for free because of my job.”
“More than 750 cinema halls in West Bengal screened films. Today, there are barely 170 single screens left in the state,” says Piya Sengupta, president of EIMPA.
Most of the cinema halls that have shut down in the last few years were popular with Bengalis. These include Roxy, Lighthouse, Globe, Paradise and Elite in central Kolkata; and Madhuban and Pushpasree, besides Malancha, Ellora and Purna in the southern part of the city. Those that are still running have struggled to obtain fire licences, which make them safe for people in fire-prone locations. “Despite several letters and applications to the government from EIMPA, many old theatre owners have failed to get licences,” says Sengupta.
Suneet Singh, owner of Paradise on Bentinck Street, lost his business and passion for movies during the lockdown imposed following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. But the rot had already set in. “The virus proved to be the final nail in the coffin for most single-screen owners. How will the halls run when there are so many terrible films being made?” he says. He sees no possibility of a revival of his ‘dead’ theatre as people find it more convenient to watch films on television or mobile phones these days.
Many single screens almost everywhere across the country have been converted into marriage halls and shopping centres, but property owners in Kolkata say that the attachment of film lovers towards the city’s movie theatres used to be at a different level.
Struggle for inspiration
In Jukti, Tocco R Goppo ,Argument, debate and story), an iconic film by Ritwik Ghatak, one of the characters says, “Bhabo, Bhaba Practice Coro (Think, practice thinking)!”
Bengali filmmakers and actors believe that the quality of film art has suffered, as the cinematography of current films is often unimaginative and the screenplays uninspiring.
Actor Deboprasad Halder, who starred in box office hits such as Baishe Srabon And billu rakkhosh“We have reached a saturation point with the kind of content we are making. We need to make way for new talent and new stories. Without involving the youth, we will never be able to find new ideas,” he says. He says internal politics has hurt the industry and is having an impact.
“Filmmaking has become more about business than art now. Producers want the film to be completed in 15 days. It is not possible to ensure quality that way,” says veteran actor Paran Bandhopadhyay, who has been in the industry for several decades. He laments that the technology-driven robotic approach to making films and OTT series has taken away the fun from the sets.
“Producers are not trusting new stories. We now remake south Indian films; they are not our original films. These are mostly thrillers and detective stories that do not belong to our land. The biggest hits here now are the usual formula films,” says actor Judhajit Sarkar, who has starred in films such as Tasher Ghor ,House of cards, And Dracula Sir,
Director Tathagata Banerjee agrees. He says producers mostly depend on adaptations or remakes of popular Tamil films to make money. Cinematographer Arindam Bhattacharjee has no problem with remaking Tamil or Telugu films for Bengali audiences if it helps sustain the industry. “Cinema is a language in itself. Bengali or Tamil does not matter,” he says, lamenting the “unfortunate” fact that films with a local flavour no longer draw people to theatres the way Satyajit Ray and Ghatak’s films used to.
It was common for Bengali families to watch the same film five times with five different groups if the subject was interesting, as was the case with most films starring great actors such as Chhabi Biswas, Uttam Kumar, Soumitra Chatterjee, Suchitra Sen and Supriya Devi. “I have seen Ray’s films Hirak Rajar Deshe “This film has been released at least eight times in different theatres,” says movie buff Aditya Bose, who laments the “unrelated stories” that Tollywood is dishing out these days.
Decreasing business
Producer KK Gupta of JM Films says the Bengali film industry, once a bankable bet, is finding it increasingly difficult to make money. The biggest hurdle, he says, is that the state government is reluctant to subsidise production expenses, unlike at least a dozen other states.
For example, Assam’s Tourism Policy 2017 provides for a cash incentive of 25% of the eligible production expenditure per film or Rs 1 crore (whichever is lower), depending on the budgetary provision of the year.
Daga says producers are unable to recover the money invested in the film and the 18% GST on tickets is making the situation worse. “Regional cinema is watched by people from all walks of life and most of them cannot afford to spend Rs 500 to watch a film at a multiplex. Cheaper, less taxed tickets can help save the industry, which is struggling to stay afloat,” he says.
Madhuja Mukherjee, professor of film studies at Jadavpur University, says the Bengali film industry has faced crises before. great actor After (legendary actor) Uttam Kumar’s death in July 1980, she said, “Relying on remakes of Tamil films and the usual detective stories will not help. We have to take risks with new stories. All the good films in the world have been made by taking risks, but this industry is stuck in cliches,” she says.
Some in the industry agree that the risk is worth taking, but only if all stakeholders work in coordination, and the film does not break strict rules that put a strain on the project’s budget.
