The production house owes Rs 31.78 lakh to more than 250 employees who worked on films like “Mission Raniganj”, Tiger Shroff’s “Ganpath” (2023), and Akshay Kumar and Shroff’s “Bade Miyan Chote Miyan” (2024), Tiwari added .
Bhagnani remained unavailable for comment.
In a complaint filed on March 19, 2023 with the Indian Film & Television Directors Association (IFTDA), Desai said that he worked on “Mission Raniganj” from February 2022 to October 6, 2023 (the film’s release date) and the amount to be paid. received under the contract is Rs 4,03,50,000 and he has received only Rs 3,70,36,092 so far.
“A complaint was written by the director of ‘Mission Raniganj’ about non-payment of Rs 33.13 lakh dues from Vashu Bhagnani last year in March. We have followed up with Pooja Entertainment but still haven’t made it. They had said by the end of July that they would pay the dues,” Tiwari told PTI.
Desai declined to comment when contacted by PTI.
Vashu Bhagnani on Pooja Entertainment: Did They Really Sell Office & Lay off 80% of Staff?
According to FWICE President, IFTDA has written several letters to Pooja Entertainment but they keep delaying the payment.
“In February, he found time to pay by mentioning the marriage of Jackky Bhagnani through an email on February 20, 2024 to IFTDA and later he did not reply. He will do it after the release of the film, ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’, again which has not happened,” said Tiwari.
“It’s not fair what they do, they live a luxurious life, and when they pay their dues, they make excuses. In the latest email, they said that they will remove the dues at the end of July, but if not. In that case, the workers will not work on what film anyway,” he said.
About 200 to 250 workers, who are part of the Film Studios Setting & Allied Mazdoor Union, are yet to receive their payment of Rs 31.78, 327 from Pooja Entertainment, said Rakesh Maurya, the union leader.
“There are three to four categories of workers who build sets, they usually receive anywhere between Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,400 per day. The pending dues of one worker can range from Rs 10,000 to 20,000 or more,” Maurya of Film Studios Setting & Allied Mazdoor Union, told PTI.
They have about 48,000 daily wage workers in various departments such as set department, lightmen, and boys.
FWICE general secretary Ashok Dubey told PTI that it has been a long time since the release of “Mission Raniganj”, “Ganapathy” and “Bade Miyan Chote Miyan” but the payment of workers is still being withheld.
“The workers have no power. The artists get the money first, but not our workers. It hurts to see the condition of the workers in the industry; they don’t have a job guarantee here. Even when they are working on a project. they don’t receive money on time.
Last week, some crew members accused Pooja Entertainment of not paying their dues and firing a majority of their staff.
In a media statement, Bhagnani said that people who claim that Pooja Entertainment has not cleared their dues should talk to the banner.
“If anyone claims to be owed money, they should come forward and talk to us. Do they have a proper contract with Pooja Entertainment? Have they filed a case? There are more ways to sort this out than ranting on social media,” he said, denying the report. that his production banner is closed.
Dubey said the workers should be paid at the earliest.
“In Marathi films, there is a rule that workers don’t get daily wages from producers, censor certificates will not be given to producers, we want the same rule,” he said.
Pooja Entertainment has produced hits such as “Coolie No. 1”, “Hero No. 1”, Amitabh Bachchan and Govinda “Bade Miyan Chote Miyan”, “Kucch Kehna Hai”, “Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein”, “Om Jai Jagadish” , and “Shaadi No. 1”, among others in the past month but the last few releases didn’t work at the box office.