Film Federation Employees vs Producers Council - TS Minister takes sides

The differences between Film Federation Employees and Producers Council has snowballed into a huge controversy.

Producers Council rejected to increase 30% wages for the technicians and also decided to take action against the protesting employees. Film Federation Employees earlier gave call to stall the shootings if the producers donot agree for their demands.

In the midst of all this, producers met Chiranjeevi in his house and here is what they say about it. C. Kalyan, Allu Aravind, Suresh Babu, Mythri Ravi Shankar, and Supriya Yarlagadda and others met him and sought his intervention.

Chiranjeevi promised to look into it and resolve the issue in two to three days. Producer C. Kalyan said, “We met Chiranjeevi garu and explained the issue. He felt that abruptly halting shootings was inappropriate. He patiently listened to our concerns and assured us that he would also hear the workers' version of the issue. He told us, ‘I’ll observe for two to three days, and if the situation doesn’t improve, I will intervene.’”

“They breached all union norms by declaring a strike overnight on Sunday,” said Mohan Vadlapatla, Joint Secretary of the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce. “Typically, any union gives one or two months’ notice before halting work, but this abrupt decision has hurt several producers whose films are currently in production.” He added, “Their motives don’t seem professional — it feels more like blackmail. Wage hikes are usually implemented every three years through multiple rounds of negotiation. But this time, they acted unilaterally, without even giving us breathing space.”

Mohan added “A producer has every right to choose his crew and agree on wages mutually, rather than being bound by the Federation’s strict rules. They even object to the food served on sets, which is absolutely beyond their purview,” He continued “We are offering membership to freshers for just ₹1,000. They can begin working immediately, instead of forcing producers to pay inflated wages to Federation members demanding a 30% hike — something that could force many producers to walk away from film production altogether."

In the midst of all this, Telangana Cinematography Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy came in support of the employees. There is a need to increase wages. To survive in Hyderabad, workers must be paid more,” he said. “After returning from my Delhi tour, I will meet with the workers personally.” He added, “We have entrusted the matter to Dil Raju, who is holding discussions. While producers are making pan-India films and we are granting approvals to hike ticket prices, they must also consider the demands of workers.”

Rajeshwar Reddy, member of the Film Federation says “We are very thankful to the Minister for understanding our plight. His support will boost the morale of thousands of workers, many of whom depend on this 30% wage hike to afford even two square meals a day.”

He continued "I don't want to take names but only two or three shootings are going on since they gave a letter to Telugu Film Industry Employees Federation assuring that they would pay the revised wages with 30% hike. Hence we allowed them. But most of movies have halted shootings."