“There are a lot of issues..”: Roopa Ganguly on political intervention in entertainment industry

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], July 31 (ANI): Actor-turned-politician Roopa Ganguly discussed the political interference in the entertainment industry and its impact on the functioning of artists.

In a conversation with ANI, she shared, “There are a lot of issues in the television industry. The primary reason for these problems is political intervention in the film industry. If political intervention ends and the people heading the Federation are not directly connected to politics, it would be better. The industry was not like this before. We all worked together. I want to remind you that in this industry, everyone who works is an artist.”

On Tuesday, representatives from the Kolkata film industry met with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to request her involvement in resolving the standoff over filming for Bengali films, OTT content, and serials. Bengali film actors Prosenjit Chatterjee, Dev, and director Goutam Ghose met with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The filmmaker Rahool Mukherjee is currently under a three-month ban imposed by the Federation of Cine Technicians’ Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEI) for allegedly violating the industry’s norms. The impasse worsened on July 27 when technicians walked off the set of Mukherjee’s new film, boycotting the director and alleging he violated shooting norms.

Thanku didi @MamataOfficial
Hopefully everything will be resolved by evening
N will resume shooting from tomorrow

Thanks to all the Technicians ,producers, directors n all the stakeholders pic.twitter.com/Su6HqPBbzG

— Dev (@idevadhikari) July 30, 2024

According to Swarup Biswas, president of FCTWEI, director Rahool Mukherjee breached the norm by failing to notify the federation or the Directors’ Association of Eastern India about his international shooting excursion.

Ganguly added how things have become difficult with political intervention, “For the past few years, politics has made things strange in our industry, which should not happen. For example, if a small producer wants to create a small story involving a few artists, we should not need a big team. But the Federation has a rule that if you have to shoot, you must include many people, even if not needed. This burden falls on the producer, making it difficult for small producers to do anything in West Bengal.”

Speaking about the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, she shared, “It is surprising that the Chief Minister has to intervene in everything, including matters between artists and directors. What is EIMPA (Eastern India Motion Picture Association) doing? This should be their responsibility. Politicians sitting at the head of the federation is not a good thing.”

Roopa Ganguly is best known for her portrayal of Draupadi in B R Chopra’s hit television series ‘Mahabharat’. In October 2016, she was nominated as a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, by the President of India.