FEFSI urges government to allow film-shooting from September

The Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI) has appealed to the Tamil Nadu government to allow film-shooting from September.

At a press conference, FEFSI president R.K. Selvamani said they were ready to follow the government guidelines and strictly implement safety measures if they were given the go-ahead. “The State government has already allowed post-production work as well as filming of television shows. The guidelines issued for these are being strictly followed, and we will do the same if filming-shooting is allowed,” he said.

He said that for the last six months, thousands of FEFSI members had been without work, and the loss in income was put at ₹1,000 crore. “Even if permission is given for us to resume shooting small and medium budget films, it will greatly benefit the workers,” Mr. Selvamani said.

Mr. Selvamani urged popular actors to dedicate one day in a year to the benefit of the FEFSI and said that whatever they chose to work that day, the remuneration could be donated to the workers who had been affected. “The one day dedicated to the FEFSI can be utilised by the member-workers in a way that benefits one and all.”

Actors Sivakumar, Suriya and Karthi have donated ₹80 lakh in financial assistance to film workers, he said. This followed Suriya’s announcement that his film Soorarai Pottru would release on Amazon Prime and a part of the proceeds from the sale would be donated for the benefit of film workers.