Kerala - Kochi   

War of words in cine world

All is not well in Malayalam film industry. Arguments and counter arguments between rival factions continue in the air. Battle lines have been drawn, as producers take on technicians in a war of words coming out from a real thriller. The only difference this time is that the action is not `reel' but real. Producers have announced that they will shut shop from August 1 onwards in protest against the demands raised by technicians.

Macta Federation, the body spearheading the campaign against producers, retaliated by declaring an indefinite agitation 15 days ahead of the strike planned by the producers. "They (producers) have hurt the sentiments of the technicians by ignoring the basic rights of technicians that include taxi drivers and light boys in the industry," says Vinayan, general secretary of the federation. "The entire industry will come to a standstill from June 15 onwards in protest against the stand taken by the producers," he said.

Dispelling rumours of a split in the family, representatives of 18 unions under the Macta federation jointly issued a release saying that they were united in their fight for ensuring the basic rights of thousands of its members. Mr. Vinayan says the reports of a split in the federation are `baseless' and terms it "an attempt by the producers to spread false rumours against them." A.K. Sajan, scriptwriter and representative of the Macta writers' union, says that the salary hike would only cost an additional Rs.50,000 for a producer. "We have only asked for increasing the daily allowances of people who work hard braving all odds for the success of a movie," he adds. But Milan Jaleel, president of the producers' association, says that a salary hike would eat in to the already eroding returns from a movie. "The industry is already reeling under escalating production cost. The demand for a salary hike was made without even holding any discussions with the producers," he says.

The ongoing feud is likely to affect the release of Onam movies. And it might also delay the production work of those in the pipeline. With no immediate signs of an agreement visible, it seems the industry is heading towards yet another cold war.

G. Krishnakumar

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