The controversy surrounding the Federation of Western India Cine Employees’ (FWICE) non-cooperation directive against actor Ranveer Singh over his sudden exit from director Farhan Akhtar’s Don 3 has now reached the courts.
Veteran film producer TP Aggarwal, former president of the Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association (IMPPA), has challenged FWICE’s move by filing a petition before the Bombay Civil Court in Dindoshi.
Aggarwal’s plea, filed against both FWICE and IMPPA, argues that no individual, organisation, or trade body has the legal authority to impose a ban or direct others to refuse to work with someone.
In an exclusive conversation with NDTV, Aggarwal strongly criticised FWICE’s directive, calling it beyond the federation’s jurisdiction.
“FWICE, whatever they have done is completely wrong and it’s not within their jurisdiction. It’s not something they can do. We had gone to the Competition Commission (CCI) in 2017 and the court had also given a verdict that they cannot do this, that it does not fall within their rights,” he said.
Aggarwal recalled that similar disputes had surfaced in the past as well.
“It was regarding the rights of the federation. They had caused a lot of problems for producers then as well. At that time, I was the president of IMPPA,” he added.
The legal dispute stems from FWICE’s recent non-cooperation directive against Ranveer Singh after the producers of Don 3, Excel Entertainment, allegedly raised concerns over losses and scheduling disruptions following the actor’s reported exit from the film.
When asked by NDTV whether Excel Entertainment’s Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani had done the right thing by approaching FWICE, Aggarwal said the matter should have been taken to court instead.
“They could have gone to court. It’s a legal matter. FWICE doesn’t have any rights,” he said.
Aggarwal further explained that producers are expected to first approach their own industry associations.
“If any such thing happens to any producer, they go to their own association. They don’t go to FWICE. They need to go to IMPPA or whichever association they belong to. That association will call the parties involved, try to understand the issue and attempt to resolve it. If it doesn’t get sorted, then the best way is to go to court.”
He also explained why IMPPA has been named as a party in his petition.
“I have made IMPPA a party as well, because why has IMPPA not taken up this issue? Why didn’t they intervene? Why is everybody quiet and going along with what FWICE is doing?” he said.
Though no longer serving as IMPPA president, Aggarwal said his current role as patron of both IMPPA and the Film Federation of India prompted him to seek legal intervention.
“Now I’m not the president of IMPPA. I’m the patron of IMPPA and also the patron of the Film Federation of India. So I decided I should move the court, because no association should have the right to blackmail anybody,” he said.
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