FWICE drops its non-cooperation order against Ranveer Singh

In a significant turnaround, the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) on Tuesday withdrew the non-cooperation directive it had issued against Ranveer Singh just nine days ago. Announcing the withdrawal at a press conference, BN Tiwari, President of FWICE, said, “We had written to all producers’ bodies informing them about our decision to issue a non-cooperation directive against Ranveer Singh. However, the federation also believes that no decision should be taken without hearing all sides and bringing everyone onto a common platform for dialogue. IMPPA (Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association) and the Producers Guild of India responded to us, extending their support on the issue. Along with CINTAA (Cine & TV Artistes’ Association), they also requested us to withdraw our decision. Therefore, with effect from today, we are withdrawing the non-cooperation directive against Ranveer Singh.”Background:This comes after Ranveer sent a legal notice to the federation, asking it to withdraw the directive. The non-cooperation directive was issued on May 25 and came after Farhan Akhtar filed a complaint with the Indian Film and Television Directors’ Association (IFTDA), which referred the issue to FWICE for intervention. The move triggered widespread debate within the industry, with many filmmakers and producers questioning the decision.‘There is no victory or defeat in this’Ashoke Pandit added, “The producer bodies have assured us they will take up the matter at the earliest in the interest of the industry and work towards a resolution through dialogue. While acknowledging the complaint filed by Farhan Akhtar and other producers against Ranveer over his withdrawal from Don 3, the Guild stated that no member should engage in conduct that causes substantial losses to producers or other stakeholders in the industry. Such actions have serious consequences and undermine the spirit of trust, professionalism and mutual respect on which the industry is built. We would like to clarify that at no point did we say that Ranveer Singh was being banned. The non-cooperation directive was issued in response to a complaint, and our objective has always been to facilitate dialogue and find a solution in the interest of the industry.” He added, “We will sit with all producer bodies and arrive at a fair solution in which neither the producer, director nor actor faces any difficulty. To facilitate that, we have withdrawn our directive. There is no victory or defeat in this.”On the legal notice sent by Ranveer, Tiwari said, “Our legal department is responding to the notices.”‘We were willing to listen to both sides’When asked by us whether FWICE had buckled under pressure following industry backlash and Ranveer’s legal notice, Pandit said, “We don’t fear anyone. We believe in honesty, trust and good work. We seriously felt that if trust continues to erode in the industry, the industry itself is doomed. We had written to Ranveer and were willing to hear both sides. The reason we have withdrawn the directive is because the producers’ bodies have now become involved. We are not alone in this. There is no ego and no desire for revenge. ” He continued, “What happened in this case was wrong. Walking out of a project three weeks before shooting was scheduled to begin reportedly caused the producer a loss of `45 crore. We are now waiting for Ranveer to get back to us. We are confident that the producers’ bodies will take the lead and help resolve the matter. Hamare liye issue bada hai and hamari jeet issue solve hone mein hai.”