TFPC vs DSP: Who will compensate us, ask technicians

“Of late, Kollywood has been in a sorry state and so are our lives. The office-bearers cut our salaries by 30 per cent. On top of it, this strike has made lives bitter for more than 25,000 technicians. When the shoots resume, will the producers compensate us by doubling wages? They profit from the hard work we put in, but nobody comes to our rescue in such situations,” says production assistant Ramkumar, who is working on Dhanush’s Maari 2. 

Like countless other dreamers, Ramkumar had come from his native Thanjavur with high hopes of making it big in the industry. Not anymore. “I was wrong,” he said. 

Jeeva is another technician, whose struggles continue even after spending over three decades in the industry, during which he worked for over 500 films till date. As his income stopped overnight, the strike has already had a serious impact on the family. 

“I started out when Raghuvaran started his career as a hero. I haven’t seen a single strike in the last three decades that I have been in the industry. But of late, I have been pledging jewels to run the household. This is not the industry that I knew of,” says Jeeva. 

What has left many like his dejected is the lack of support from any quarters. “There hardly are anyone voicing support for us. Producers reap return for several months with just one film. But that’s not the case with daily wage workers,” he points out. 

However, there still are the assistant directors, who are sailing in a calm boat even amid the storm. “Assistant directors have fixed monthly income these days, so it has not affected them. However, those who are trying to turn into directors would find it difficult, as producers cannot start any new projects or even fund for pre-production work,” says Mithun Krishnan, who once assisted director AR Murugadoss.