RGV owes Rs 1 crore to technicians: Ashok Pandit criticizes director’s Don 3 row comment
Ashok Pandit has launched a scathing attack on Ram Gopal Varma, demanding an unconditional apology for his recent controversial social media post on the Don 3 controversy.
Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) chief advisor Ashok Pandit strongly criticized filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma over his ongoing comments. don 3 Controversy at a press conference held in Mumbai on 3 June. These comments came after FWICE addressed the controversy involving Ranveer Singh and Farhan Akhtar and announced its decision to withdraw the non-cooperation direction issued against the actor.
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Pandit’s comments come after Verma reacted strongly to FWICE’s first non-cooperation direction against Singh. In a series of social media posts, the filmmaker criticized the federation and questioned its actions.
Pandit alleged that Verma himself had approached the federation in the past regarding pending payments and had not fulfilled the commitment made then.
“FWICE is not a bully; it is a serious federation. Ram Gopal Varma used derogatory language about us. We want to tell the world today: RGV owes more than Rs 1 crore to the technicians. This case has been going on since 2017,” Pandit said during a media briefing.
Pandit said, “He (Ram Gopal Varma) had written a letter to the federation. He had sought support from the federation to give him time to make the payment. He had said he would pay by March 2019. He still has not paid. We demand an apology from him for using abusive language against the federation.”
What did RGV say?
In one of his posts, Verma wrote, “Ban ‘FWICE’, not @RaneerOfficial. The so-called ‘BAN’ or non-cooperation in the style of Gandhiji will ultimately turn out to be a big joke on FWICE. This is not industry or worker protection, as they are claiming. This is purely performative muscle-flexing by an extremely old union system desperately trying to hold on. Whether it claims to speak for more than 5 lakhs or 50 lakhs Activists, the brutal truth is that most of those millions do not even know the internal facts of the dispute between the two parties.”
He further said, “FWICE is neither a court of legal justice nor a government-mandated regulatory body, and at best, it is a kangaroo court, which by definition pretends to deliver justice, but in reality, disregards established legal rules, due process and fairness. This is because the verdict is often decided by a group of specific agenda-oriented people meeting in private, which also includes actors who play @RanveerOfficial in Dhurandhar.” Afraid of mega success. This would be a huge PR disaster for FWICE as it is screaming in frustration, at the same time, demonstrating its obsolescence.”
FWICE canceled the instructions
At a press conference in Mumbai on June 3, FWICE discussed its continuation don 3 Controversy involving Singh and Akhtar and announced that it was rescinding the non-cooperation directive issued against the actor. The decision came a day after Singh sent a legal notice to the federation.
FWICE’s response to Verma’s criticism and the decision to drop the directions against Singh marked major developments at the press conference, with the body also reiterating that the actor’s legal notice will be responded to through the legal process.