RGV owes technicians Rs 1 crore: Ashoke Pandit slams director's Don 3 row remarks

The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) Chief Advisor Ashoke Pandit strongly criticised filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma over his remarks on the ongoing Don 3 dispute at a press conference held in Mumbai on June 3. Pandit alleged that the filmmaker owes more than Rs 1 crore to the technicians and said the matter has been pending since 2017.

Pandit claimed that Varma had previously approached the federation over pending payments and failed to honour the commitment he made at the time.

"FWICE is not a bully; it’s a serious federation. Ram Gopal Varma used abusive language about us. We would like to tell the world today: RGV owes more than a crore to the technicians. The case has been going on since 2017," Pandit said during the media briefing.

"He (Ram Gopal Varma) wrote a letter to the federation. He asked for support from the federation to give him time to make the payment. He said he would pay by March 2019. He has still not paid. We demand an apology from him for using abusive words against the federation," Pandit added.

Pandit's remarks came after Varma reacted strongly to FWICE's earlier non-cooperation directive against Singh. In a series of social media posts, the filmmaker criticised the federation and questioned its actions.

What RGV said

In one of his posts, Varma wrote, "BAN 'FWICE' and not @RanveerOfficial. The so-called 'BAN' or non-cooperation in the style of Gandhiji will eventually become a BIG FAT JOKE on FWICE. This isn't industry or worker protection, like they are claiming. It is just pure performative muscle-flexing by an extremely outdated union system, desperately trying to hold on to its grip. Whether it claims to speak for over 5 lakh or 50 lakh workers, the brutal truth is that most of those lakhs don't even know the internal facts of the dispute between the two parties (sic)."

He added, "FWICE is neither a court of legal justice nor a government-authorised regulatory body, and at best it's a kangaroo court, which by definition pretends to deliver justice but, in actual fact, disregards established legal rules, due process, and impartiality. That is because the verdict is often decided in advance by a group of specific agenda-oriented people meeting privately, including actors who are scared shitless of the mega success of @RanveerOfficial in Dhurandhar. This will be a massive PR disaster for FWICE because it is screaming in desperation while, at the same time, demonstrating its outdatedness (sic)."

FWICE revokes directive

At the June 3 press conference in Mumbai, FWICE discussed the ongoing Don 3 dispute involving Singh and filmmaker Farhan Akhtar and announced that it was revoking the non-cooperation directive issued against the actor. The decision came a day after Singh sent the federation a legal notice.

FWICE's response to Varma's criticism and its decision to withdraw the directive against Singh marked the key developments at the press conference, with the body also reiterating that its reply to the actor's legal notice would be made through the legal process.