The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) has clarified that its recent action against Ranveer Singh over his sudden exit from Don 3 is not a “ban,” but a temporary non-cooperation directive.
During an interview with ETimes, Ashoke Pandit explained, “See, first of all, the entire conversation has become wrong. It’s not a ban. See, we are not the court; we can’t ban people. So we have issued a non-cooperation. Non-cooperation means all our members who belong to 30 crafts, you know, will not work with him. It’s my choice whether I want to work with him or not.”
He further added, “So we, as a trade union, have issued this thing to our members that, wherever he is there, you will not work till the time. This issue is not sorted out. Because we very strongly feel that this is a very wrong trend that will start.”
FWICE Wants Both Parties To Resolve The Matter
Ashoke Pandit also stressed that the organisation intends to push both sides towards a resolution.
Speaking about the producers’ concerns, he said, “Producers will be doomed in the last moment if directors leave and if actors leave and, you know, for that matter, if anybody leaves. This will be a big loss, and then ultimately, everybody is not Excel Entertainment that they can afford to lose crores. They will commit suicide.”
He added, “So we tried to, you know, bring in a little bit of, you know, this thing that at least we can sit together and sort this out, and hopefully it will. I’m sure… we are still hopeful that it will happen. But the point is, for that, we have to meet, you know.”
According to Ashoke Pandit, FWICE had invited Ranveer Singh for discussions three times, but he did not attend.
He said, “So we very strongly tried our best. We sent him invitations thrice. There was no response, and then finally he sent mail when he came to know that we are having a press conference, saying that this doesn’t come under a jurisdiction.”
The filmmaker added, “So with that said, fine, if you feel so strongly. Toh theek hai. Koi baat nahi. (Alright then. No problem) Doesn’t matter. So that is a basic thing, we will wait. We’ll sit with the producer body. Will sit with different associations, and we’ll see how things happen.”
Explaining what a possible resolution could look like, Ashoke Pandit said, “See, there has to be a closure. The producers, him, and the body should sit together and come to a solution to this in a sense. If you say it’s not 45 (crore), we say 30 (crore) or whatever. The discussion has to happen, and then you have to come to a final thing, and both parties have to come to a closure on this because ultimately we have to work. You can’t keep on fighting as you know… Like some family dispute.”
What Happened With Don 3?
The controversy began after Ranveer Singh reportedly walked out of Don 3 after months of pre-production and after a promotional video featuring him had already been released.
Excel Entertainment, led by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani, is said to have suffered losses of nearly Rs 45 crore due to the actor’s sudden departure.
While FWICE maintains that the matter can still be resolved through discussion, the industry body has made it clear that its non-cooperation directive will remain in place until both sides reach a settlement.
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