Malayalam film industry to face next bout of crisis in the New Year

KOCHI: Malayalam film industry is in for the next bout of crisis in the New Year with the Kerala Film Producers Association threatening to stop all activities of film making from January 1 in the wake of differences with the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) over the wages of technicians.

The FEFKA's demand for a 33 per cent increase in the wages of technicians cannot be justified, producers association president G. Suresh Kumar told reporters here on Tuesday.

Mr Kumar also alleged that the FEFKA has forced a few producers to pay higher wages from December 19 despite no final agreement has been reached on the wage dispute.

"It is a matter of great concern that organisations like FEFKA are constantly engaged in increasing the cost of production of films," he said.

The association also said that it would be ready for talks with the FEFKA only if the latter repaid the excess money charged by them from December 19.

General secretary of the FEFKA and noted director B. Unnnikrishnan, along with directors Kamal and Sibi Malayil, denied the charges and said the producers association is not ready for a new wage pact even three months after the earlier wage agreement. The FEFKA has demanded a wage revision after three years as per the agreement, Unnikrishnan said.

"The earlier agreement expired in September and we have a made a number of representations to the association for a new wage pact," he added.  

Denying the claims that FEFKA members are responsible for the increase in the cost of production of films, Unnikrishnan said the wage increase sought by the association will create an additional burden of Rs 460,150 for the producers of a film.

The amount is meagre when compared with the total budget of a movie. He also denied that the Malayalam film industry has an excess of technicians, he said.

On an average, 200-250 technical people are involved in a Hindi film while in a Malayalam film, only 100-150 persons are involved, he said.

 

 

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