Sanjay Gupta leads charge against lobbying Producers Association

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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USA: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…On May 29 we had reported that producer- director Sanjay Gupta had moved the Bombay High court when his financial dispute with producer Vinod Bachchan over a shelved project seemed unending. However, despite Gupta filing a legal petition, the FWICE (Federation of Western India Cine Employees) issued a Non-Cooperation Directive against Gupta following decision of Joint Dispute Settlement Committee (JDSC) of FWICE and IFTDA (Indian Film and Television Directors Association) in the complaint filed by Bachchan against the filmmaker.

Talking about the same Sanjay Gupta says, "This injustice has to stop sooner or later, if you notice all other associations/ artists, be it action director, choreographers, and others receive their full settlement even if the film they have been roped in for is shelved. However in the case of film directors, we are paid a measly 10% of our fee as a token, post which we begin work on the script, reccee, casting, and other details. Now if the said film is later shelved by the producers how is it our fault and why should we not receive compensation for the work done?" Backing up his claims, Sanjay Gupta decided to take action, and backed by IFTDA, he has got the various affiliates of FWICE to call on the federation to suspend the Non-Cooperation Directive against him, terming it 'unconstitutional and without following laws and procedures of FWICE'.

For the uninitiated, Vinod Bachchan had signed up Gupta to make a film for his production house, paying a token amount of Rs 45.90 lakhs. However, apparently when Gupta embarked on another movie for a corporate house, Bachchan asked for his money to be returned. The filmmaker contended that he had worked on the script and prep for the film and the producer had failed to raise the money to see it through. Following this, Bachchan approached the FWICE, which after a series of meetings and consultation with JDSC, issued the Non Cooperation Directive against Gupta.

While the case comes up for hearing before the Bombay High court after its vacation ends on June 8, Bollywood Hungama has received a copy of the letter signed by heads of 16 of the 22 associations affiliated to FWICE, calling for suspension of the NCD against Gupta.

Article written by staff at Bollywood Hungama. Read more