Award-winning Odisha-born Bollywood technicians cry neglect

Bhubaneswar: Odisha-born National award-winning Bollywood technicians such as Subash Sahoo, Nihar Ranjan Samal and Sukanta Panigrahi among others are on indefinite strike in Mumbai demanding a hike in their wages and revised working hours, compensation and holidays.

Hindi film technicians, hairdressers and spot boys under the aegis of Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) had been staging protest outside the Film City gate at Goregaon (East) since August 15.

Sources said as many as 150 Odia people working for Bollywood and the television industry in Mumbai have been affected due to no work since the beginning of the strike.

Some unions are also not supporting the strike upon the realisation that they will have to go hungry if don’t join the work which they already had signed.

“We are demanding pay hike, revision of working hours, 4 holidays in a month as workers and technicians are now working 30 days in a month,” said Subash Sahoo, a veteran sound designer, who is the General Secretary of Western India Motion Picture and Sound Designers Association.

The producers also have to pay attention in providing quality food and insurance to workers, junior artists and spot boys at shooting sets besides maintaining hygienic condition, Sahoo demanded.

Sahoo, a native of Kendrapara and an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute (FTII) Pune, had won his first National award for Vishal Bharadwaj’s Omkara in 2008 and then for Kaminey in 2010.

Another Odia Sukanta Panigrahi, an acclaimed Bollywood art director who had worked with films like Chak De! India, Dev D, Ek Tha Tiger and many more, was also protesting demanding the same.

Panigrahi is now the President of Art Directors Association.

Among others, Nihar Ranjan Samal and Debasis Mishra, who worked as sound designers for films like 3 Idiots, Bajirao Mastani and Ferrari Ki Sawaari, too lent their support.