“NO CHANGE IN OUR STAND. WE WILL SHOOT WITH OR WITHOUT FEFSI”, VISHAL

We have been regularly reporting about the discord between the Producer Council and FEFSI. Further to FEFSI President Selvamani’s statement yesterday, which we had reported, Vishal as the President of Producer Council has replied to the same, a brief excerpt of which is as follows:

“We got to understand from your statement through the media that you are planning on a strike from August 1st. But we would continue our shooting process and request your union members not to cause disturbance to our shooting.

At this juncture, we would like to mention that on any day, we are not against workers. And we have also not stated that we would not work with FEFSI members. But, we refuse to work ONLY with FEFSI.

I would also like to state that no outside force had worked to split the Producer Council and FEFSI but it is only the Technician’s Union, which is part of FEFSI, is creating this divide. It is also sad to note that FEFSI has always been in favor of the erring Technician’s Union. This makes us feel that it has been forgotten that workers are for cinema and not the other way round. 

We are even willing to set aside the unsavory statements of Dhanapal from the Technician Union against a member of Producer Council. But since this union (Technician’s Union) has always worked against the production department, we cannot continue working with this union anymore. This decision is not because of an individual’s nasty behavior, but only to protect the welfare of the people who are connected with the production.

Even now, we are not saying we are against workers. We are keen to work with FEFSI but cannot do the same with Technician’s Union. We are willing to hold talks regarding wages for other unions, if losses of Billa Pandi producer are compensated”.  

Later Vishal had apparently mentioned, “No change in our stand. We will shoot with or without FEFSI”.