KOLKATA, Feb. 7 -- In a surprising development in the Tollywood industry, the Directors' Association of Eastern India (DAEI) called for a strike Friday onwards over halting the shoot of Srijit Roy's serial. However, several well-known directors, including Srijit Mukherji, continued filming his new project 'Killbill Society' across various locations in Kolkata. The film stars Parambrata Chatterjee, a key member of DAEI, who has voiced concerns about the frequent disruptions to shooting schedules.

While most serial shoots proceeded without interruption, some TV shows faced certain disruptions. On Friday, ministers Aroop Biswas and Indranil Sen met with aggrieved directors Joydeep Mukherjee and Srijit Roy, whose shooting was halted earlier, to address the situation.

Sen said that there was no strike but some directors had chosen to withdraw from the set. Out of 37 shooting floors, 29 were operational, while eight did not hold shoots. Of those eight, four floors were closed and the remaining four had already informed that shooting would not take place. "We are confident that work will continue smoothly," he said.

Aroop Biswas emphasised the unity of Tollywood, referring to the industry as a "large family" of 12,000 to 14,000 members. He assured that the issue would be resolved quickly, and everyone would return to work soon. "Problems may arise, but we will always overcome them," he said.

The partial work stoppage left a tense atmosphere in Tollywood. On Friday morning, Swaroop Biswas, President of the Federation of Cine Technicians & Workers of Eastern India, visited the studio to assess the situation. He explained that the Directors' Guild had called for the strike without consulting the Federation. He also pointed out that most serials and several films proceeded as planned. "We've always said problems can be solved through discussion. But this is the second time the Directors' Guild has intentionally disrupted work," he said. He also noted that last year, work was suspended for two days by the Directors' Guild and now the strike had been called again.

According to Biswas, shooting was only halted in Organic, Blues, and Raj Chakraborty's Grihoprobesh, while other shoots continued as usual.

This isn't the first strike in Tollywood. Last year, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had to intervene to resolve the issues between the Directors' Guild and Federation.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.