Mamata Banerjee resolves Tollywood dispute

In West Bengal, India, a dispute had been brewing within the entertainment industry, involving directors, actors, and technicians. The tensions between these groups have sparked ongoing debates and led to a pause in production activities for some.

However, everyone counted on West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee to mediate and resolve the situation. Her intervention has brought relief to the Tollywood industry, and filming is set to resume today. 

Yesterday, actors Prosenjit Chatterjee and Dev Adhikari, along with director Gautam Ghosh, arrived at Nabanna (the temporary State Secretariat of the Government of West Bengal) to help resolve the conflict between director Rahool Mukherjee and the technicians. Minister Arup Biswas was present in a meeting with the chief minister.

The chief minister's intervention finally indicated a possible solution. Following this, she posted on social media, stating, "Had a meeting, discussed the issues, and it was reassuring."

Meanwhile, Dev shared on his X handle, "Everything will be resolved very soon. We expect everything to be back on track by this evening. Hopefully, shooting will resume from today. Thanks to all the technicians and producers involved in the movie."

Rahool Mukherjee is set to direct the project, though filming will begin in about a week. Additionally, a review committee is being established to examine the federation's regulations. The new guidelines will be presented to this committee, led by Minister Aroop Biswas, within three months.

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Turmoil in Tollywood: Directors, producers, and actors stand by Rahool Mukherjee

According to reports from Kolkata media, the directors convened a meeting at Prosenjit Chatterjee's residence on Monday afternoon. Later that day, the Federation hosted a press conference at Technicians Studio in Tollygunge. In response, the Directors Guild held a separate meeting at the same location in the evening. Attendees representing the directors included Srijit Mukherji, Kaushik Ganguly, Anjan Dutt, Shiboprosad Mukherjee, Arindam Sil and Raj Chakraborty, among others.

The conflict initially arose during the filming of a series in Bangladesh. Kolkata-based director Rahool Mukherjee faced a three-month ban from the Directors Association of Eastern India for conducting a shoot in Dhaka without prior notification.

However, the organisation eventually lifted the ban. This decision was met with opposition from the federation, leading to the federation's technicians refusing to work while Rahool Mukherjee was involved in that project.