Bollywood actors, techs strike

[Saddle Bronc 124]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7646404.stm

Strike brings Bollywood to a halt

All work in India's film and television hub of Bollywood has stopped after thousands of technicians and actors began a strike over pay and conditions.

Unions representing film employees in Mumbai (Bombay) say many members have not been paid for months and are threatening to strike indefinitely.

Meanwhile, film producers have told the BBC they will meet to decide their response on Thursday.

They say that they are prepared to weather a long dispute if necessary.

'No compromise'

"Employees sometimes work for as long as 30 hours at a stretch. There have been serious health issues and even accidents. We have been writing to producers but it got us nowhere," said Dinesh Chaturvedi of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees.

He said that workers' patience had reached "saturation point" because wages had not been paid for months and contracts were not being honoured.

Mr Chaturvedi - whose federation of 22 unions represents 147,000 members - said that in some cases wages had been withheld for up to six months, leaving workers on the verge of starvation.

Mr Chaturvedi says the Senior Artists Association is also part of his federation and are part of the non co-operation, although it is not clear if any major stars are taking part in the strike.

Daily wage workers, comprising lighting technicians and camera crew, insist that they are not ready to compromise until their demands are satisfied.

Premsingh Thakur, who heads a union mostly made up of lighting technicians, said that about 35,000 of his members had not reported for work on Wednesday.

"We do not want any bonus. We just want the wages which were decided by producers. Until this matter is solved we will not start work," he said.

The BBC's Prachi Pinglay in Mumbai says that television productions on tight schedules like reality shows are the most affected by the dispute and several shooting schedules for daily shows have been cancelled.

Those on strike range from from dancing girls to carpenters, lighting technicians to cameramen, and soundmen to script writers.

Farhan Khan, who works on the production team of a reality show, told the BBC: "All shooting has come to a complete halt. We are losing money and we just have to wait till it is resolved."

But Sushma Shiromanee of the Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association said employers were prepared to hold out for months if need be.

"There is no shooting at all today, but there is no panic here. The biggest problem is with the TV producers," she told the BBC.

"This is not only harming producers, but daily wage workers, too, who aren't earning anything because of it... They should have sat down with us to talk about this. We can wait for six months if necessary."

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

no hindi movies for a while?

good.. the world will be better off.

[Amby 490]

no more benny lava?

[almaty 19]

no hindi movies for a while?

good.. the world will be better off.

why do you hate India?

[Saddle Bronc 124]

no hindi movies for a while?

good.. the world will be better off.

why do you hate India?

AJ doesn't hate India--just the Bollywood-format movies.

[Mononoke28 137]

I have to be honest that I always thought those movies looked kind of dumb with the songs and the dances and ####### like that. Then when I went to Colombia last year, there was nothing to do and they were playing one of those Bollywood movies on TV and I was totally sucked in. Yes, they are cheesy but oh my gosh, they're delicious!

Diana

[almaty 19]

no hindi movies for a while?

good.. the world will be better off.

why do you hate India?

AJ doesn't hate India--just the Bollywood-format movies.

he hates bollywood and that is the same as hating india

[trinket 30]

no hindi movies for a while?

good.. the world will be better off.

why do you hate India?

AJ doesn't hate India--just the Bollywood-format movies.

he hates bollywood and that is the same as hating india

Nope its not, I hate most of the bollywood movies too.

Copy cats

I have to be honest that I always thought those movies looked kind of dumb with the songs and the dances and ####### like that. Then when I went to Colombia last year, there was nothing to do and they were playing one of those Bollywood movies on TV and I was totally sucked in. Yes, they are cheesy but oh my gosh, they're delicious!

Diana

They actually show Bollywood films in Colombia

I have heard of Bollywood having nice market in African and Middle east countries.

[Dr. Obvious 49]

"This is not only harming producers, but daily wage workers, too, who aren't earning anything because of it... They should have sat down with us to talk about this. We can wait for six months if necessary."

Because I am sure they never thought of that?

Nothin like good ol' fashioned slave labor.

I have only watched a single Bollywood film, about the Indian Rebellion of 1857. I can't for the life of me remember what it was called. Eh, not that important.

[metta 0]

no hindi movies for a while?

good.. the world will be better off.

why do you hate India?

AJ doesn't hate India--just the Bollywood-format movies.

he hates bollywood and that is the same as hating india

Nope its not, I hate most of the bollywood movies too.

Copy cats

I have to be honest that I always thought those movies looked kind of dumb with the songs and the dances and ####### like that. Then when I went to Colombia last year, there was nothing to do and they were playing one of those Bollywood movies on TV and I was totally sucked in. Yes, they are cheesy but oh my gosh, they're delicious!

Diana

They actually show Bollywood films in Colombia

I have heard of Bollywood having nice market in African and Middle east countries.

We were in Dallas for a reunion a couple weeks ago. My friend works for the cancer center in Houston and she works with Russian colleagues (physicians?) there. It seems Bollywood films are very popular even in Russia. She was telling me how amused she was when her female Russian colleague did an Indian sonf and dance routine that she learned from one of the Bollywood movies.

I also grew up with Indian movies back in my native country and loved the songs from Aradhana and could even sing a few lines from each of those songs

[almaty 19]

no hindi movies for a while?

good.. the world will be better off.

why do you hate India?

AJ doesn't hate India--just the Bollywood-format movies.

he hates bollywood and that is the same as hating india

Nope its not, I hate most of the bollywood movies too.

Copy cats

I have to be honest that I always thought those movies looked kind of dumb with the songs and the dances and ####### like that. Then when I went to Colombia last year, there was nothing to do and they were playing one of those Bollywood movies on TV and I was totally sucked in. Yes, they are cheesy but oh my gosh, they're delicious!

Diana

They actually show Bollywood films in Colombia

I have heard of Bollywood having nice market in African and Middle east countries.

why do you hate India??

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Dean, hating films (or certain products) made in a country is NOT the same as hating the country.

Example: many Pakistanis like to watch pirated Indian films (which cannot be legally shown in Pakistan since 1965) and TV serials but still hate India vitriolically.

[almaty 19]

sorry brother sriniv...i stand corrected...

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I also grew up with Indian movies back in my native country and loved the songs from Aradhana and could even sing a few lines from each of those songs

Interesting. Where are you from?

[Saddle Bronc 124]

I also grew up with Indian movies back in my native country and loved the songs from Aradhana and could even sing a few lines from each of those songs

Interesting. Where are you from?

Probably Eastern (1945-1989) part of Germany--as Bollywood movies seemed to be big in Kruschev/Brezhnev-era Soviet Union, and by extension satellite-states.