FWICE strike affects shooting of 'Bajirao Mastani', Aamir Khan's film

With the strike by the FWICE -- Federation of Western Indian Cine Employees, the mother-body of the several unions of industry workers - effective from Saturday, shooting of the forthcoming film "BajiRao Mastani" and actor Aamir Khan's film have stalled in addition to several TV shows.

According to the B.N. Tiwari, the President of The Sound Association of India, the whole film city is a part of the strike involving all 22 associations like Indian Film & Television Directors' Association (IFTDA), Association of Film & TV Editors, Cine Costume & Make-up Artist and Hair Dresser Association, Film Writers' Association.

"The whole film city is a part of this strike, all 22 associations. We have closed the gates of the film city, the police is here and the protests are going on.

"'BajiRao Mastani' shoot has also stalled and many have stopped the shoot themselves like filmmaker Rohit Shetty has stopped the shoot of his film in Chennai, a film shoot involving Aamir Khan has stopped for two days...everybody is in support," Tiwari told IANS over phone.

FWICE along with Cine and Television Artistes Association went on strike demanding better wages and improved working conditions.

Sharing that the strike is effective pan-India, Tiwari shared that shooting will not take place anywhere in the country.

The high court has ordered the association to stay away from the venues where the shoots are still taking place, keeping a distance of 150 km radius to be precise.

"The high court has ordered that for 15 days, wherever the shooting is taking place, we have to be at least 150 km radius away from the vicinity. There are a few shootings going on today, but tomorrow they won't," he said.

The tussle between Producers Association and FWICE is going on since February when the memorandum of understanding (MoU) expired and both the parties couldn't agree to a renewal.

"The negotiations with the producers is on. The legal advisers are working on the paper work for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)... Our representatives are in talks with the Producer's association," Tiwari said.

"If we close down even for a single day, it is equivalent to a loss of 100 crores! We cannot afford a strike for very long, so the producers have to wrap it up as soon as possible. I t should be over in 2-4 days max. The process of MoU is a little lengthy, everything needs to be in place, once it is signed then this one day problem will be solved for the next five years," he added.