Ram Gopal Varma Resolves Rs 1.1 Crore Dues After Police Company Shoot Interrupted

Ram Gopal Varma has cleared longstanding dues amounting to Rs 1.11 crore that range back nine years. The pending compensation for film crew was paid after production was stopped on the sets of his upcoming cop drama Police Company, starring Harshvardhan Rane, on orders of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE).

“On Monday, we had no choice but to stall the shoot. We asked the cameramen, fighters, and members of the lighting department not to work until the payment was made. The outstanding amount involved several departments, including fighters, spotboys and the sound department,” FWICE Honorary General Secretary Ashok Dubey emphasised, speaking to the Times of India.

FWICE On The Dues

BN Tiwari, President of FWICE, stated, “Varma, who owed money to technicians and daily-wage workers for three projects, including Sarkar 3 (2017) and Officer (2018), had written a letter to us in 2019, assuring us that the dues would be cleared at the earliest and requesting that he be allowed to continue working. We kept following up with him, but he continued to avoid the issue. We contacted him again when we learnt that he was preparing to shoot his next project, but for almost a month, we were told that the payment would be made shortly and were asked not to take action.”

FWICE Chief Advisor and President of the Indian Film & Television Directors’ Association (IFTDA), Ashoke Pandit, insisted, “It is high time producers recognise that technicians and daily-wage workers who contribute to completing a film also have families and responsibilities. We do not want to stop a shoot or cause difficulties because the producer can also suffer as a result. We will continue to seek action when payments are withheld.”

Earlier this year, when Ram Gopal Varma wrote on X that the FWICE should be “banned” for passing a non-cooperative directive against Ranveer Singh for his unprofessional exit from Farhan Akhtar’s Don 3, Ashoke Pandit shared in a press conference that Varma himself has outstanding dues of over Rs 1 crore from his films Sarkar Raj (2017) and Officer (2018). After both the films flopped at the box office, Varma didn't pay his crew the entirety of their fees.