The ongoing dispute between actor Ranveer Singh and actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar intensified on Monday after the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) issued a non-cooperation directive against the actor. The issue at hand is Ranveer allegedly walking out of Farhan’s Don 3 days before the film was to go on floors. FWICE has now asked all its members not to work on any project starring Ranveer, effectively boycotting him from Bollywood. But the question arises, can a worker’s union call for a boycott or shadow ban on an actor? Does it even have the authority? We take a look at the legal mechanism.
FWICE’s directive against Ranveer Singh
In 2023, Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment announced Don 3 with Ranveer Singh taking on the role of Don, a character made famous by Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan. However, last month, Farhan approached the FWICE alleging that Ranveer walked out of the film weeks before the shoot was to begin. “Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani informed FWICE that they have already incurred approximately ₹45 crores towards the pre-production of the film. He expressed grave concern that the sudden withdrawal of such a leading actor from the project at an advanced stage could expose the producer to severe financial losses and adversely affect the overall execution of the film,” FWICE’s notice from Monday read.
FWICE President Ashoke Pandit told reporters at a press conference on Monday afternoon that the organisation sent Ranveer multiple notices but received no response. Consequently, they acted and asked their members not to work on any project featuring the actor. Pandit added, “None of our workers or members, across all crafts, will work on any of his projects. We have requested that all producers take a stand, join us in solidarity, speak out against this conduct, and make a firm decision.”
FWICE’s legal standing and CCI’s cease and desist order against it
The FWICE is a union of crew members, actors, filmmakers, and other workers employed in the Hindi cinema and television industries based in Mumbai. The organisation works as an umbrella union for cinema employees, but is not a regulatory authority. As a union, it holds the right to advise and suggest to its members with whom to work and whom not to, but it cannot force that upon them.
This lack of authority was underscored in 2017, when producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah dragged them to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) over a dispute involving crew members. Shah alleged that specific provisions of an MoU signed between FWICE and producer associations, the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA), Film and Television Producers Guild of India (FTPGI) and Indian Film and Television Producers Council (IFTPC) in 2010 were anti-competitive. Eventually, the CCI found that the All India Film Employees Confederation (AIFEC), FWICE and its affiliates, along with the producer associations, were in contravention of provisions of Section 3 of the Competition Act, 2002 (Act), which prohibits anti-competitive agreements.
A clause that mandated that a producer could engage only with members of the FWICE was in violation of the act. It also said that FWICE cannot impose any penalty to enforce that clause. Consequently, CCI issued a cease-and-desist order against the associations.
What it means for the Ranveer Singh case
This means that while the FWICE can ask its members not to cooperate with films featuring Ranveer Singh, those members can choose not to abide by that directive. Any who do so cannot be penalised monetarily or otherwise by the FWICE. Additionally, any film project featuring Ranveer can hire cast and crew members from outside the FWICE as well. While the union boasts of thousands of members from Bollywood, its membership does not comprise the entire film industry. That means that its boycott of Ranveer may make things tricky for the actor, but it will not translate into a hard ban on him.
What Ranveer Singh said about the dispute
Late on Monday night, after FWICE’s directive, Ranveer’s official spokesperson issued a statement addressing the development. “Ranveer Singh holds the highest regard for the film fraternity and for everyone associated with the Don franchise. Throughout the recent developments surrounding Don 3, he has consciously chosen to maintain silence, believing that professional discussions and personal equations are best handled with dignity, maturity and mutual respect. While several narratives and speculations have surfaced over time, Ranveer has never considered it necessary to respond publicly or contribute to conjecture. His focus remains firmly on his work and the commitments ahead,” the statement read.