Kangana Ranaut's 'Manikarnika' Faces Trouble Over Non-Payment Of Dues To Workers, Claims FWICE
Makers of Kangana Ranaut-starrer "Manikarnika: TheQueen of Jhansi" are yet to clear dues of approximately Rs 1.5 crore to the workers and junior artists, according to FWICE.
Makers
of
Kangana
Ranaut-starrer
"Manikarnika:
TheQueen
of
Jhansi" are
yet
to
clear
dues
of
approximately
Rs
1.5
crore
to
the
workers
and
junior
artists,
according
to
Federation
of
Western
India
Cine
Employees.
The
film,
which
is
due
to
be
released
on
January
25
next
year,
is
currently
under
post-production.
The
makers
have
been
shooting
some
portions
of
the
film
at
Filmcity
in
suburban
Mumbai.
The
shoot
was
halted
Wednesday
afternoon
mid-way
because
of
non-payment
of
dues
of
workers,
technicians
and
junior
artists.
"It
has
been
three
months
but
they
have
not
cleared
dues
of
daily
wage
workers,
which
is
about
Rs
40
lakh.
About
Rs
90
lakh
are
to
be
paid
to
light
vendor
and
Rs
25
lakh
to
junior
artists.
The
producer
(Kamal
Jain)
had
promised
to
make
the
payment
by
October
but
he
has
not
fulfilled
his
commitment,"
Ashok
Dubey,
General
Secretary
of
Federation
of
Western
India
CineEmployees
(FWICE)
told
PTI.
The
Film
Studio
Setting
and
Allied
Mazdoor
Union
workers
stalled
work
on
the
sets.
The
workers
union
then
approached
FWICE
to
seek
their
help
in
this
matter.
"There
was
some
patch
up
work
that
was
remaining.
We
spoke
to
Kamal
Jain
in
the
first
week
of
November
to
sort
out
this
payment
issue.
But
now
he
has
stopped
answering
our
calls.
He
had
told
he
will
not
pay
the
workers
if
the
shooting
comes
to
a
halt," Dubey
said.
Dubey
said
FWICE
is
planning
to
write
a
letter
to
Prime
Focus,
a
company
working
on
the
post
production
of
"Manikarnika" and
the
Central
Board
of
Film
Certification
(CBFC)
to
not
work
on
the
film
and
give
it
clearance
till
the
payments
are
made.
"The
producers
should
understand
the
plight
of
these
workers,
technicians
and
junior
artists,
there
is
no
safety
and
security
on
the
sets,
there
is
no
insurance
for
them.
Besides
this,
the
quality
of
food
on
the
sets
is
not
always
good
and
there
is
also
an
issue
of
hygiene.
"We
are
also
planning
to
meet
Kirit
Somaiya,
who
is
the
chairman
of
Labour
committee," he
added.
When
contacted
Jain,
he
remained
unavailable
for
comments.