FilmIndia (1948)

■ (ember, 1948 FILM INDIA I more grist to the mill without any thought of qua [ During the slump last year some of these very same I) owners unceremoniously closed down their studios k hrew thousands out of employment and threw open |)und stages for hiring by independent producers. I of them did so not because motion picture producliad suddenly become an uneconomic proposition but I se the ambitious studio bosses had lost heavily in I cotton and race gambling. I Vt that critical juncture the small independent proIs kept up our annual quota of productions by their lit perseverance in the face of odds and not only lied the theatres with their day to day requirements llso raised the general standard of our pictures. I hese very same people are now being jettisoned in Ir of the studio owners most of whom are only timeI.g capitalists with lo\e neither for art nor for in Whe independent producers are fretting and fuming I rustration and are already thinking in terms of an lendent bod\ to look after their interests. It is a well known axiom that big fish eat small ones JT the independents still hope to live with the powerBud io owners and survive thev ithe independents) King in a fool's paradise. How can two conflicting interests ever pull together Ber sweetly Chandulal Shah may talk and overle i the little one> with the >entiment of artificial unity I is not always backed by a hearty and sincere copiiion ? lilhoking off the independent producers by denying Bm the vital raw stocks is to forge a disgraceful carI production monopoly which will not only bring ■ what little quality of production we ha\e at present llso shut off free enterprise which is the main distilling feature of our new-found democracy. B'he part Kodaks are playing in this game is, to say list, not worthy of their international traditions. As In traders, mainly in India for business, they ha\e Isiness to align themselves with self-seeking trade Bbolists at the expense of general industrial economy I in future must be based on socialistic principles. If Kodaks are thus misusing their privilege to unlaw films into this country, it is high time that the Bj'ities look into the matter more closelv and give International firm some directives as to the exact Hexion of our future government of the country . In the other hand the independent producers would III either to form a separate association of their H> guard their interests or to put their hea\ v foot • on the activities <>i people who are trying to rob ■if their f undamental privileges. I independent producers are to be warned off the Br) this manner we have no chance of seeing another Alana which wa> produced by an independent proce« ith.iut a >(udio. tji a tret country, there m u~t be free enterprise and ■cartel of new celluloid Birlas and Dalmias. \m\ Ml, above all. needs freedom for its best expression. Raw "Peat To M&dt&i IVotketi It is reported that after consulting representatives of the film industry and "studying" the actual needs of the workers, the Commi ssioner of Labour to the Government of Madras has prescribed a minimum scale of wages for different workers in the film studios. According to this scale, the highest ceiling of wages is Rs. 100-5-200 for the chief make-up man and the laboratory chief whilst the lowest rung begins from Rs. 20-125 for sweepers, setting and moulding assistants and office peons. In between these two points, the cameraman and the recordist are priced at Rs. 60 each per month while the office head-clerk is allowed Rs. 80 and the carpenter mistry Rs. 90 per month. Of course, in keeping with the universally prevalent practice, a fixed dearness allowance of Rs. 20 per month is generously granted to all those getting salaries below Rs. 10 and R>. 25 to those getting more than Rs. 40|per month. In the Bombay studios, an average cameraman earns Rs. M)U per month while there are quite a few getting anything between a thousand and fifteen hundred rupees per month. The average recordist also gets as much as the cameraman and often more and there is at least one instance of one Mr. Sharma being paid Rs. 1500 per month. The average laboratory chief and the chief setting man earn anything between Rs. 400J and Rs. 500 per month. In "Pugree", a social story of All India Pictures, Dixit, our ace comedian, gives another sterling performance. 5