EIMPCC members stage a protest march

The Eastern India Motion Pictures & Cultural Confederation (EIMPCC) organised a walk on Monday evening from the Uttam Kumar statue to Dashani Studio in Tollygunge to ensure the clearance of payments, safety of producers, non-interference in units and adequate shows for Bengali films at plexes. Mostly technicians from the film fraternity, along with Agnimitra Paul, George Baker, Debika Mukherjee and many others, were part of the rally.
“We are apolitical and don’t want Tollywood to have any colour. But sadly, that’s exactly what’s happening. If some producers, directors, actors or technicians are close to the governing body, they get work. We want to stop this trend. A person should get work based on merit. And why will a governing body decide what number of technicians to take on board? Isn’t it the director and producer’s prerogative? Today’s march is in protest against all these. These industry had actors like Bikas Roy and Uttam Kumar, who had their own minds. But today, most members of the film fraternity are being dictated to by the governing body, which has a political colour,” said Debika Mukherjee.
The rally started with baul songs and several people walked with placards with slogans like: ‘Eksathe sob aschi bhai, ebar Tollywood a bodol chai’, ‘Kacher manush noy, kajer manush kaj paak’, ‘Bangla chobir sonar sujog abar asuk phire, sobar kajer sujog hok Tollywood ke ghire’.
Agnimitra Paul, who feels it is a myth that there is a dearth of Bengali films, said, “It is not true that there are hardly any good Bengali films. I am part of the censor board, so I know a lot of Bengali films are being made. But sadly, people here are more interested in doing politics than concentrating on good content. Directors should not be dictated to by any governing body. And why should there be a backlog of payments? That is not acceptable.”