Telugu film shoots hit pause over 30% wage hike stalemate

The stalemate between Telugu film producers and the Telugu Film Industry Employees Federation (TFIEF) continued into its second week, with film shoots coming to a halt. The tussle began with the TFIEF demanding a 30% increase in wages.

The TFIEF and unions of the different crafts, ranging from stunt to makeup and other departments, justified their demand for a wage hike, citing the rising production costs of films that vie for nationwide box office and leading actors and directors drawing a fee of several crores. 

Meanwhile, producers have stated that apart from a handful of all-India hits, several films have failed at the box office. They also point out how unions charge a hefty membership fee and cite rules that compel producers to hire more crew members than necessary, thereby escalating production costs.

With the ongoing strike, the industry is staring at the possibility of inevitable delays of films currently under production.

On Monday afternoon, a few producers of small and medium budget films presented their arguments at a media interaction at Prasad Labs Preview Theatre, Hyderabad. The meet witnessed the participation of producers Sreenivas Kumar Naidu aka SKN, Dheeraj Mogilineni, Rajesh Danda, Chaitanya, Shivalanka Krishna Prasad, Bekkem Venugopal, Sharath and Anurag, Madhura Sreedhar, Maheshwar Reddy, Vamsi Nandipati, Harshith Reddy and Rakesh Varre. 

“Approximately 250 Telugu films release each year, of which less than 50 have a budget exceeding ₹100 crore. Most producers work with smaller budgets,” said SKN, who produced the blockbuster film Baby. “Producers are not cash bags,” he added.

These arguments came in the context of allegations that unions have been forcing producers to hire several crew members than required for a film shoot. Madhura Sreedhar explained, “For example, if we have to film a conversation between two actors in a room, we require a few lights, cameras and a small crew. Due to the rules laid out by the unions, members of each craft bring in several assistants. For a small scene, we end up hiring 80 crew members.”

His statements were echoed by other producers. Rakesh Varre, who produced the small-budget, sleeper hit Pekamedalu, pointed out how he produced his debut film Evvariki Cheppoddu within ₹1.5 crore. He kept his production low key and did not hire union members. For his second film Pekamedalu, he had to rope in several crew members with union cards.

“The film’s budget went up to ₹2.5 crore,” he said, and added that the myth of producers and actors making tidy sums does not hold good for smaller teams. “There is no guarantee that we will get profits through theatrical release or digital rights. OTT platforms do not pick up films unless there are well known actors.”