MACTA elections next month

The committee, which was formed by the Indian Film Employees Confederation (IFEC) at a Chennai-meet held in June to resolve the raging controversy on the Dileep-Tulasidas issue that triggered the recent battle and split in the Malayalam Cine Technicians Association (MACTA), has decided to conduct the proposed fresh election on September 6th and 7th.

The whole issue began when actor Dileep, who was to act in a film directed by Tulasidas, refused to act in the movie after taking an advance, allegedly because the director's last film College Kumaran was a big flop at the box office. Based on a complaint from Tulasidas, MACTA promptly decided to ban the hero. But AMMA (Association of Malayalam Movie artistes) soon came in support of Dileep and the battle was on.

A twist in the tale took place when director Siddique cried foul about certain remarks made by general secretary Vinayan in a directors' meeting conveyed by MACTA on the issue. Annoyed by the remarks, Siddique resigned from MACTA and this became a major issue when almost all the top line directors including Fazil, Sathyan Anthikkad, Kamal, Rafi-Mecartin, Shafi, Lal Jose, Ranjith, Joshi and Sibi Malayil decided to quit from the organisation in support of Siddique.

The two factions started their meetings separately and sparks began to fly. As a result, the breakaway faction of top directors, the mainstream actors and producers, Writers Union and AMMA announced their new organisation (MAMTA - Malayalam Movie Technicians' Association) after the meeting held at the Sarovaraom hotel, Kochi in June. Meanwhile, the mighty organisations of the film technicians FEFSI and AIFEC have offered their support to Vinayan and his federation.

However, a breakthrough in the attempts to find a truce came following crucial talks convened by the Indian Film Employees Confederation (IFEC) and Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI) in Chennai, when the warring factions led by director Vinayan and director Siddique agreed to hold fresh elections to the MACTA Federation within three months.

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