Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) president BN Tiwari on Friday said veteran film producer Vashu Bhagnani owes more than Rs 6.5 million to the production crew of three of his films “Mission Raniganj,” “Ganapat” and “Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan.” Tiwari said Bhagnani’s company Pooja Entertainment owes Rs 3.313 million to director Tinu Desai, who has worked on the 2023 film “Mission Raniganj,” which stars Akshay Kumar.
Tiwari added that the production company owes Rs 3,178 crore to over 250 set workers who worked on films like “Mission Raniganj”, Tiger Shroff’s “Ganpath” (2023) and Akshay Kumar and Shroff’s “Bade Miyan Chote Miyan” (2024).
Bagnani declined to comment.
In his complaint filed with the Indian Film and Television Directors Association (IFTDA) on March 19, 2023, Desai said that he worked on “Mission Raniganj” from February 2022 to October 6, 2023 (the release date of the film) and while he was due Rs 4,035,000 as per the contract, he has received only Rs 37,036,092 so far.
“The director of Mission Raniganj had filed a written complaint against Vashu Bhagnani in March last year regarding outstanding payment of Rs 3.313 crore. We have enquired with Pooja Entertainment but the payment is yet to be made. They have said they will clear the outstanding amount by July end,” Tiwari told PTI.
Desai declined to comment when contacted by PTI.
According to the FWICE chairman, IFTDA has written to Pooja Entertainment multiple times but the payment continued to be deferred.
“In February, they had sought a deferral in payment to IFTDA for Jackky Bhagnani’s wedding through an email dated February 20, 2024, but there was no response thereafter. After FWICE wrote to them in March 2024, they again sought a deferral in payment and said they would pay after the release of the film ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’, but this too has not happened,” Tiwari said.
“Their behaviour is unfair. They are living a lavish lifestyle but when it comes to paying their dues they make all sorts of excuses. In their latest email they said they will pay the dues by July end but if they fail to pay then our workers will not feature in any of their films,” he added.
Around 200-250 workers belonging to the Film Studio Setting & Allied Mazdoor Union are yet to receive the payment of Rs 31,78,327 from Pooja Entertainments, alleged union leader Rakesh Maurya.
“There are three to four categories of workers who erect the sets and they usually get Rs 1,000-1,400 a day. The unpaid wages per worker can run up to Rs 10,000-20,000 or even more,” Maurya of the Film Studios, Setting and Allied Mazdoor Union told PTI.
They have around 48,000 daily wage labourers in various departments like set department, lighting guys, spot boys etc.
FWICE Director General Ashok Dubey told PTI that although it has been some time since the release of “Mission Raniganj”, “Ganapati” and “Bade Miyan Chote Miyan”, payments to workers are still outstanding.
“The workers are powerless. Artistes get their money first but our workers don’t. It breaks my heart to see the plight of workers in the industry. They have no job security. Even when they take up a project, they don’t get their money on time. They have to wait endless months to receive their hard-earned money,” Dubey said.
Last week, several crew members had accused Pooja Entertainment of not paying their dues and firing most of the staff.
In a media statement, Bhagnani said those who claim that Pooja Entertainment is yet to pay their outstanding amounts should speak to the company.
“If there are people who claim that they owe us money, they should come forward and talk to us. Do they have a formal contract with Pooja Entertainment? Have they filed a lawsuit over this? There are many ways to resolve this issue rather than venting their frustration on social media,” he said, denying reports that his production company was going to be shut down.
Dubey said workers should get paid as soon as possible.
“In Marathi films, there is a rule that if the worker does not receive daily allowance from the producer, then censor certificate will not be issued to the producer. We want the same rule,” he added.
Pooja Entertainment has produced hit films like “Coolie No.1”, “Hero No.1”, Amitabh Bachchan and Govinda’s “Bade Miyan Chote Miyan”, “Kucch Kehna Hai”, “Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein”, “Om Jai Jagadish” and “Shaadi No.1” in the past, but its recent releases have not been a box-office success.
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