Kolkata: Seventy-two hours have passed since actor-MP Dev set the deadline for lifting the ban on 12 Tollywood actors and directors. This was done after industry stakeholders announced a non-cooperation against the production house of Rahul Banerjee-starrer ‘Bhole Baba Par Karega’. Many had hoped for a breakthrough after Directors Association of Eastern India, Film & TV (DAEI) emailed Prosenjit Chatterjee saying it had begun the process of withdrawing the case before the Competition Commission of India. However, revoking the ban has proved easier said than done.Producer Rana Sarkar told TOI it isn’t possible to unilaterally withdraw such a case without acceptance of settlement terms by CCI. “It is a one-way investigation process, not a judicial matter,” Sarkar said.If that is the case, the fate of ‘banned’ industry workers remains undecided. ‘Chiroshokha’ director Diganta Sinha said he met Federation president Swarup Biswas and Prosenjit Chatterjee with his team to seek help for technicians left jobless. “I told them I don’t want to abandon Magic Moments because I owe my career to the company. I am indebted to Saibal Banerjee. They heard me out. There were plans for a meeting between the Artists Forum, Federation and Banerjee. Though Saibal-da agreed to speak with them, the meeting has still not taken place,” Sinha said.He also said it is unfair that workers lose their livelihoods after such incidents. “After the Air India crash, did other pilots and crew members in the company lose their jobs? Many who were deeply affected by Rahul’s demise have returned to work, including Priyanka Sarkar. It is sad that those not connected to Rahul’s Talsari shoot are unemployed,” Sinha said.Mumbai-based actor Mia Maelzer said her Kolkata shoot was “indefinitely cancelled” after the production house withdrew the film’s physical coach. She said she was shocked by “Tollywood’s cancel culture”. “Such ban culture harms Tollywood’s image and could drive people away from Kolkata,” she said.
