The Tamil Film Producers’ Council (TFPC) has accused film, television and stage actors’ union Nadigar Sangam of lying, and said they did inform it about producers facing financial problems because of the inability of actors such as Dhanush to commit to dates for shoots. (Also Read: Nadigar Sangam member Karthi opposes TFPC’s decision on Dhanush: ‘Completely unacceptable’)
‘Told them about Dhanush a year ago’
According to an TFPC statement issued on August 1, the producers’ body had informed the Nadigar Sangam a year ago about five top stars whose ‘call sheets’ were “causing a lot of headaches” to producers. This was also reported in the media at that time, the statement pointed out. The TFPC held a meeting on Friday to review the decisions they made public on July 29.
“It was only when Nadigar Sangam could not give any concrete solutions to us that we went public with our decisions, to safeguard our interests,” the statement said. Besides calling out Dhanush, the producers’ body had also said on July 29 that there will be no shooting from November 1, until the issue of the skyrocketing fees of artistes and technicians is sorted out. The producers also said the actors and technicians can be signed on for new films only after they complete their existing projects.
The TFPC had also called for a temporary ban on signing new films from August 15 to put in place fresh guidelines. The producers said they were forced to set new guidelines as several producers are suffering because they have been unable to screen their films due to unavailability of theatres. The producers’ body also insisted that films featuring big stars be released on OTT platforms only after they are screened in theatres for eight weeks.
Nadigar Sangam resists TFPC demands
The demands of the producers have been met with stiff resistance from The South Indian Artistes’ Association (SIAA) — the official name of Nadigar Sangam.
The same day, on July 29, actor Karthi and a few other representatives of SIAA told reporters that the TFPC’s decisions, particularly the one calling for stopping shooting of films from November 1, are “arbitrary and illegal” and would affect the livelihoods of thousands of people involved in filmmaking.
They also claimed that Dhanush’s name was dropped by the producers’ body out of the blue, without due process being followed. However, the TFPC is standing firm in its decision to stop the shooting of films from November 11, until new guidelines are in place.
“The others (Tamil Film Producers’ Association, Tamil Nadu Distributors’ Association and Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners’ Association) have agreed to the decisions. It is only fair that Nadigar Sangam too agrees to these conditions,” the TFPC statement said.