Ranveer Singh-Don 3 feud: Industry artistes highlight how they are suffering

We all adore Ranveer Singh we might not all be fans but in an industry full of leading men who took themselves too seriously he was a breath of fresh air His knowledge of obscure movies and songs his kitschy fashion sense made him relatable and interesting Other stars were a little too ldquopolishedrdquo and reserved Enter Singh who broke out into songs mid interviews wore eyewatering pink suits and said and did whatever he wantedBut his wilfulness has earned the ire of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees FWICE which recently put out a noncooperation directive against the actor after he pulled out of Don 3rsquos production The May 25 notice requested around 38 different artist associations and unions to boycott any projects linked to Singh and all hell broke looseFarhan Akhtarrsquos Excel Entertainment has asked for Rs 45 crore in reparations from the Dhurandhar actor FILE PICNIMESH DAVEIn media reports many have alleged that this is a tactic to get Singh to pay out the R45 crore already invested in Don 3rsquos preproduction by Excel Entertainment and its owners Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar Industry stakeholders though insist that the real motive is to send a message itrsquos high time that stars understand they cannot exit a project willynillyEither way though itrsquos the last rung of Bollywood that will suffer the most Hundreds of technicians who committed their time and expertise to Don 3 have now lost weeks of work because of this mess And even if FWICErsquos boycott is carried out once again itrsquos technicians who will lose out on paying workExcel Entertainmentrsquos statementldquoThroughout the recent developments surrounding Don 3 he Ranveer Singh has consciously chosen to maintain silence believing that professional discussions and personal equations are best handled with dignity maturity and mutual respectWhile several narratives and speculations have surfaced over time Ranveer has never considered it necessary to respond publicly or contribute to conjecture His focus remains firmly on his work and the commitments ahead Choosing restraint and grace in moments like these has always been a conscious decision on his part and he will continue to maintain the same stancerdquolsquoWe canrsquot afford to say no to workrsquoUnion head and veteran spot dada Sharad Shelar says worker canrsquot afford to turn away paying workThe Cine Costume Makeup Artiste and Hair Association was established in 1951 and has grown to a 7000strong membership including almost every kind of artiste who works in BollywoodThe union head Sharad Shelar aka Sharad dada is a senior spot dada who has worked with every actor one can imagine He explains why Singh backing out of a mega project like Don 3 hits all the technicians attached to the filmSharad Shelar from the Cine Costume Makeup Artiste and Hair Association has opposed the noncooperation against Singh PICSatej ShindeldquoUsually when actors as big as Ranveer Singh back out of projects the film is shelved in its entirety So letrsquos say a technician would have worked on that film for three months mdash he now has to look for a job to compensate for the lost income And jobs in the industry have become scarce anyway because such bigbudget movies are not made often anymorerdquoShelar is angry about the noncooperation directive issued by FWICE and alleges that none of the unions under the federation were consulted before the call was taken ldquoThere are 38 registered unions under FWICE my union alone has 7000 people None of these producers or guild members spoke to us even once before banning Ranveer There are no big movies being made that employ technicians by the dozens and now they are asking us not to pick up some work we might get here and there also We do not have that luxuryrdquo he saysldquoThe situation now is so bad that workers are beating each other up to get work for the day If I say I will take Rs 100 another worker says he will work for Rs 50rdquo he rues ldquoParisthiti itki vait aahe ki technician ekamekana panas rupe saathi martaath Things are so bad wersquore beating each other up over Rs 50 workrdquo Then there are veterans who are masters of their craft who refuse to squabble over pennies and end up jobless he adds Shelar who turned 71 this year tells us that associations like theirs have helped artistes with funds in medical emergencies post retirement and even during weddings But producers are nowhere to be found during their time of needShelar says that he recently visited a movie set in Goa and realised that hardly any of the technicians were members of federations ldquoSo they will not fight for us when big production houses employ say just five out of 25 technicians from unions Then theyrsquoll turn around and say donrsquot work with soandso artisterdquo he askslsquoDon sab ko dekhni thirsquoBharati K Dubey veteran entertainment journalist says she still hopes for an amicable settlement for the sake of the industryThe problem with such noncooperation directives is that the daily worker really suffers Ranveer and the directorsproduction house will not have much of a dent in their income or they might make up for the loss somewhere else But the technician canrsquot do thatBharati K DubeyAt a time when thefilm industry is in such dire financial conditions we must keep our egos aside and work together I hope the producers and Ranveer come to an understanding soon and the already struggling industry doesnrsquot take this unnecessary hit Also Don sabh ko dekhni thi We all were looking forward to watching the movierdquo lsquoArtistes have no money to buy essentialsrsquoAditya Kriplani Actor directorproducerThe top rungs of the industry donrsquot really get how bad things are for the last rungs of the industry right now They are struggling to eat pay rent buy essentials and now this noncooperation directive will hit them too The movie producers and star will move on from this but theyrsquore completely detached from the reality of how it will impact everyone elselsquoThe trend of walking out needs to stoprsquoFWICE head Ashoke Pandit an SOP is in the works to ensure accountability from anyone who rescinds their production commitmentsAshoke Pandit the head of FWICE says that the trend of artistes pulling out from projects has been going on for too long He hopes that practice will end once they draft an SOP on the time frame within which an artiste can back out of a project in good faithAshoke Pandit FILE PICSATEJ SHINDEldquoItrsquos not about going against Ranveer Singh we have seen this trend happening too often Last month I had a case where an assistant director and four people in their team told the producer at the last minute mdash just before they were to board a flight to the shoot location mdash that they were dropping out of the productionrdquo he saysldquoWe are currently in talks with all four producer bodies The Indian Motion Picture Producers Association IMPPA Producers Guild of India andWestern India Film Producersrsquo Association WIFPA Indian Film and TV Producers Council IFTPC and we are trying to bring in some guidelines that will ensure accountability of not just actors but anyone including a producer commits to an actor but drops them at the very last minuterdquo says PanditAs of now the industry does not have any official guidelines on this issue The lack of regulation is hurting the industry at a time when it is barely hanging on by a thread ldquoIn the case of Don 3 the shoot was to begin workers were flying in hotel rooms had been booked When an actor commits to a project in good faith the production house takes their word for it and covers these preproduction costs Excel Entertainment spent Rs 45 crore on thisrdquo he addsRs 45 CRAmount already spent on preproductionRs 275 CRTotal budget for Don 3lsquoLaw is on Singhrsquos sidersquoLavin Hirani a lawyer with 15 years of experience in showbiz cases says the boycott is not legally binding but can make for leverage in settlement talksHirani amp Associates is a fullservice law firm in Bandra specialising in IP Media amp Entertainment and litigation advisory The firm serves toptier clients including leading production houses Alist talent and internationalmusic labels Founder Lavin Hirani has over 15 years of experience in Indiarsquos media and entertainment sector and has had clients such as Shah Rukh Khan Sunny Deol and Rana Daggubati as well as major studios and streaming platformsLavin HiraniOn the Ranveer SinghndashDon 3 dispute Hirani says cases of this kind are not new to the industry but that the sequence of events matters ldquoFrom what I understand the film was announced in 2023 and stayed largely dormant for a long stretch After Dhurandhar released and performed strongly Ranveer exited the projectrdquo he says ldquoWe donrsquot know precisely what happened There are reports of creative differences and the timing is worth noting coming soon after a commercially successful releaserdquo he addsOn the FWICE directive itself Hirani is careful to separate what it is from what it can do ldquoA noncooperation directive is not legally binding and it is not a banrdquo he says ldquoIn practice it can create pressure toward a settlement and complicate an actorrsquos future productions but it carries no force of lawrdquo he addsHe also clarifies how the matter reached FWICE ldquoGoing by FWICErsquos own account the directive did not originate from a complaint by Excel Entertainment directly The grievance was filed by Farhan Akhtar the director of Don 3 before the Indian Film and Television Directors Association which then forwarded it to FWICE The producers cited preproduction lossesrdquoHirani notes the dynamic can run the other way too ldquoThere are also cases where producers drop actors once a bigger star becomes available and little is said about the effect on the actor who is let gordquo he says ldquoAs a general industry pattern you also see actors keep more than one producer waiting before committing These tensions are not onesidedrdquoHe draws a structural contrast with Hollywood ldquoThere producers cannot hire outside the guild and the guild disciplines producers who refuse to sign union contracts Here a federation is disciplining the actor for leaving a film That inversion is structurally unusual rather than standard practicerdquo he observesOn what follows if an actor is said to have breached Hirani is precise about the remedies ldquoPeople loosely call it lsquospecific performancersquo but a court will generally not order specific performance of a personalservice contract mdash you cannot compel an actor to performrdquo he saysldquoOccasionally a court may grant a narrow negative injunction restraining the actor from taking up competing work for the term of the contract but that is rarely granted and tightly limited In most cases the producerrsquos realistic remedy is a claim for damagesrdquo He expects one of two outcomes ldquoEither a settlement that closes the matter or litigation that does notrdquo