Sudhir Mishra, Anubhav Sinha, Raja Krishna Menon and Nikkhil Advani

B-Town filmmakers Sudhir Mishra, Anubhav Sinha, Nikkhil Advani, Raja Krishna Menon join forces with Producers' Guild to lend financial assistance to daily wage workers who will be hit by suspension of the shoot
Uma Ramasubramanian (MID-DAY; March 17, 2020)

Hours after the Indian cine bodies announced that all shoots will be suspended from March 19 in light of the current situation, director Sudhir Mishra brought to fore an urgent implication of the decision. The filmmaker, tagging his peers Vikramaditya Motwane, Anubhav Sinha and Anurag Kashyap, highlighted the need to set up a fund for the 3.5 lakh daily wage workers who are part of the Federation and will be directly hit by the impending halt.

When mid-day reached out to Nikkhil Advani yesterday, the director revealed that they had set the ball rolling on the endeavour. "As a production company, we have a group of daily wage technicians who work with us, including the light team and spot boys. We have told our HoDs [heads of departments] to [let their respective teams know] that we will compensate them for their losses." Sinha, who will be following the same practice, shares, "I will lend support to those with whom I have worked till my last film. If every director and producer takes the initiative, we will cover [most of] the work force."

Airlift director Raja Krishna Menon, while applauding the initiative taken by the film industry, points out that a transparent system needs to be put in place. "There are enough people who will contribute, but the question is, how are we going to disperse this money. We need to figure out the logistics because the money should reach the right people."

On Sunday, Ashoke Pandit, president, Indian Films & television Directors' Association, informed the directors on Twitter that they could send their contributions to an account of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees. On his part, Advani reveals that the filmmakers will be meeting members of Producers' Guild of India today to implement the plan. "We will follow the Guild's guidelines and formulate a method for this purpose."