FilmIndia (Feb-Dec 1949)

FILMINDI A August, ] had finished over 50% of his work. Asif was on the horns of a dilemma. He could not scrap Sahani's role without losing four lakhs of rupees nor could he finish the picture without 20 more shooting days for Sahani. Had it not been for the sympathetic consideration shown by the police authorities, who allowed Balraj Sahani to go to the sets under police guard on every shooting day and return to his prison cell in the evening, Asif would not have been the producer of "Hulchul'" any more. In fact, there would have been no "Hulchul" at all. Asif's sad plight should provide an object lesson to other film producers who often engage important artistes without investigating their political leanings. We have quite a few people in our film industry — artistes, writers, directors and other workers — with the Communist background and it would be bad business to engage these people for indispensable jobs seeing that they are likely to be picked up by the police any day without a previous warning. The Communists are on the war path and so are the police. Let not our producers pay the wages of this war by taking up people whose political activities are not approved by the state. CHANDULAL POCKETS ASOKA MEHTA! Chandulal Shah and Asoka Mehta, the Socialist leader of Bombay, went into labour nine months ago and have now brought forth the proverbial mouse in the shape of an arbitration award for the 2,500 employees of eleven film studios in the city. The workers themselves do not like the award. They feel that they have been betrayed by the Socialist leaders. They feel that because the film producers had helped the Socialist Party to win a recent election with cars, petrol and funds, the Socialist leaders have played into the hands of Chandulal Shah and helped him to stab the workers in the back. Among other unfulfilled demands, they want to know what has happened to Chandulal Shah's tall promise to give the Ran jit workers a bonus of Rs. 2,75,000|-? We, personally, know of this solemn declaration by Chandulal Shah in the presence of over a thousand guests at the time of his production-centenary celebrations. Unless the Jam Saheb of Nawanagar was deaf at the time he can also be relied upon to have heard this tall declaration. The workers have now formed a new union called the National Film Kamgar Sangh under the official aegis of the Indian National Trade Union Congress. Thus, precisely what the producers want has happened — a split among the workers themselves. The old game of playing one against the other will now begin and as usual the workers will be the ultimate losers. The split among the workers is also an opportunity for the Congress-controlled I.N.T.U.C. to wean the workers from the influence of the Socialist Party. The workers' future is going to be a three-party game in future in which the workers themselves will have no say. Coming to the award given by Asoka Mehta there is a lot in it for workers to be dissatisfied. The present remunerations have been illogically split into basic salaries and dearness allowances, thereby providing very little immediate relief to the workers. An efficiency bar has been introduced placing the workers at the absolute mercy of the employers. The classification of different 12 II. ho creates * MEENA * IN SHOREY FILMS' EK-THI-LARKI Produced & Directed by: ROOP SHOREY * Starring: MOTILAL, Kuldip, Majnu, & Joh Music: Songs & Dialogue: VINOD AZIZ KASHMIRI * See for the first time The beautiful scenery of Kashmir to the accompaniment of Music & Songs. Contact : SHOREY FILM S Kardar Studios, Bombay 12. SARO.T PICTIIKES LTD. 360, Vithalbhai Patel Rd., BOMBAY 4.