Filmmaker Rahool Mukherjee has been banned by Federation of Cine Technicians’ Workers of Eastern India on the 20th of July this year, sparking a new controversy. Filmmakers and other crew from the film industry have ushered support for the director.
The Federation says that Rahool Mukherjee went on to shoot his series ‘Lohu’ with Bangladeshi platform Chorki without any permission and he also violated the higher pay scale rule to local Technicians for foreign projects. Rahool Mukherjee has said the Federation already knew that he was shooting in Bangladesh and he employed Bangladeshi technicians for the project only. He also says that as ‘Lohu’ is an international project, he has “no obligation to the Federation’s requirement of employing local technicians.”
Popular director Srijit Mukherji said “Banning someone cannot be a resolution, nor can clamping down on someone’s right to work”. Koushik Ganguly, another director, has to say, “At a time when efforts are being made to save the big screen in West Bengal, the word “ban” is something that appears to be harsher than any abuse.”
Other filmmakers too have condemned the act and demanded an immediate withdrawal of the ban. Rahool Mukherjee says this is a clear violation of human rights and it is bad that an artist cannot work in peace in whatever industry he wants to. He has to step down as the director and the creative producer as well but is grateful to the people who stood for him.