The Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI) is an Indian organisation consisting of technicians from the

Tamil film industry Tamil cinema is the segment of cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to the production of Film, motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the nam ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. A total of 23 unions belonging to different trades in the film and television industry are affiliated to the FEFSI that has around 25,000 members.

Strikes

June 1997

In June 1997, some members of the FEFSI resorted to a flash strike during the shooting of the film '' Raman Abdullah'', directed by

Balu Mahendra Balanathan Benjamin Mahendran (20 May 1939 13 February 2014), commonly known as Balu Mahendra, was a Sri Lankan Tamil cinematographer, director, screenwriter and film editor who worked in various Indian film industries, primarily in Tamil ...

, protesting against the director engaging "outsiders". This led into a major crisis when FEFSI launched an indefinite strike, affecting other film units as well. The state government intervened and FEFSI called off the strike after a week. However, the producers hardened their stand and insisted that they would not engage any technician or worker associated with FEFSI. They complained that the rising wages of technical staff and artistes were contributing towards the box office run of Tamil films in 1997. They demanded that workers and technicians form new organisations exclusively for the production of Tamil films, on the lines of organisations in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. The issue escalated when the organisation's leader

Vijayan Vijayan is a South Indian name and may refer to: Given name *Pinarayi Vijayan (born 1944), Indian politician * Vijayan (actor) (1944–2007), Tamil & Malayalam film actor * Vijayan (stunt coordinator), action choreographer for South Indian films * ...

declined to budge from his demands and was unable to gather support from a series of prominent actors and film director

Bharathiraja Bharathiraja ( born 17 July 1941) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor who works mainly in the Tamil film industry. Making his debut in 1977 with ''16 Vayathinile'', he is known for realistic and sensitive portrayals of ...

. Vijayan also became the key person for the strike which led to suicide of some members and some lost their assets due to this strike. Films delayed included ''

Marudhanayagam ''Marudhanayagam'' () is an unfinished Indian historical drama film directed and produced by Kamal Haasan under his Raaj Kamal Films International banner. The script was co-written by Haasan, along with novelist Sujatha, and the pair started w ...

'', ''

Jeans Jeans are a type of trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", with the addition of copper pocket rivets added by Jacob W. Davis in 1871 and patented by ...

'', '' Sethu'' and '' Kadhal Rojave''. Producer K. T. Kunjumon said his losses amounted to 3

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. F ...

s after a large set he had erected for his film ''

Ratchagan ''Ratchagan'' () is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language romantic action film written, produced by K. T. Kunjumon, and directed by Praveen Gandhi in his directoral debut. The music and background score is composed by A. R. Rahman. It stars Nagarjuna an ...

'' (a replica of the massive Rajaji Hall) was destroyed in the rain. Several new Cielo cars parked near the set were also damaged, resulting in a loss of another 7 lakhs, he claimed. The strike lasted for over six months, delaying the production of several films before easing. In June 1998, FEFSI and the Tamil Film Producers Association (TFPA) merged and formed a new organisation called the Tamil Nadu Film Producers and Employees Federation. An agreement to this effect was signed by the representatives of the two organisations in the presence of then Chief Minister

Muthuvel Karunanidhi Muthuvel Karunanidhi (3 June 1924 – 7 August 2018), also known as Kalaignar (Artist), was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He had the ...

June 2011

Talks between FEFSI and the Tamil Film Producers Council (TFPC) over wages and working hours became a heated matter in early 2011 and FEFSI members wanted the issue regarding increase in salary to be sorted out immediately, calling for a strike in June 2011.

February 2012

An unofficial two-week strike was held in early February 2012, with nearly 5000 members of FEFSI engaging on a day-long hunger strike at Isai Kalaignargal Sangam in Vadapalani, demanding that the Tamil Film Producers Council (TFPC) implement the revised wages for its members. The strike was made official briefly in April 2012 but did not disrupt any big-budget film productions, and soon the problems were eased out after the intervention of the State's Labour Minister S. T. Chellapandian.

June 2013

A clash broke out when the drivers' union learnt that one of the camera crews supposedly hired a private agency for their logistics, instead of approaching the assigned drivers and this was contrary to union expectations. After brief disturbances in May 2013, FEFSI announced a decision to boycott all vehicles of the drivers' union. In June 2013, FEFSI announced that they would go an indefinite strike after it was alleged that members of the drivers union had assaulted members of the technicians union at Nerkundram Paadhai on Monday, when they were loading food into an autorickshaw for a film shoot. Two days later the strike was cancelled and film shootings resumed. As a fallout of the strike, the Tamil Nadu Chinna Thirai Producers Council president Radhika announced that the council had decided to break away from FEFSI. Leaders *May 2009 - Writer V. C. Guhunathan was elected and pledged to improve conditions and work closely with producers. He quit in 2011 shortly after the 2011 State elections results were released and departed from his post simultaneously with

Rama Narayanan Rama Narayanan (3 April 1949 – 22 June 2014) was an Indian film director and film producer. In the 1980s, he was known as a director who specialized in shooting commercial films in which animals played vital roles, while in the 1990s, several ...

who left the TFPC. *May 2011 - M. A. Ramadurai stepped into replace Guhunathan following his departure, with G. Siva staying on as secretary and Angamuthu Shanmugam as treasurer. *June 2012 - Director Ameer defeated veteran director

Visu Meenakshisundaram Ramasamy Viswanathan (1 July 1945 – 22 March 2020), best known by his stage name Visu, was an Indian screenwriter, film director, stage, film and television actor and talk-show host. Visu initially worked as an assistant to ...

to lead the council in the FEFSI president elections. Siva was re-elected as secretary and Shanmugam as treasurer.

References