Mirzapur 3’s Set Workers Not Provided With Quality Food, Are Unpaid For Over 3 Months! ( Photo Credit – Instagram; Twitter )
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In a shocking turn of events, Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani’s production house Excel Entertainment has been accused of non-payment of dues. The Film Studios Setting & Allied Mazdoor Union (FSSAMU) has called out the production house for not paying the wages of around 300 workers who designed the set of Mirzapur 3. From the past few months, the shooting of the 3rd instalment has been underway.
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According to a report in Mid-day, FSSAMU has claimed that Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani’s production house has an outstanding due of Rs 20-25 lakh as they haven’t paid the wages to 300 workers since May 2022. The workers continue to work on the sets of Mirzapur 3 as it’s been shot across Mumbai and Benaras. Not only that, Excel Entertainment has also been accused of making the workers work for “extended hours that go beyond the permissible limits as per the provision in the labour law.” The report further states the workers are provided with the worst quality food and there’s no adequate seating for the workers.
The portal quoted Gangeshwarlal Shrivastav, general secretary, FSSAMU, saying, “Over 300 daily wagers have been working on the Mirzapur 3 sets since May. It has been over three months since they have been paid. We didn’t get any response [to our letters] from the production house. After we released the letter to the media, Excel contacted us and promised to settle the dues in 48 hours, but we want that in writing.”
However, soon afterwards, Excel Entertainment released an official statement which read, “This is the first time we are being made aware about such a complaint raised by the union. We would like to further [state] that the FSSAMU has not reached out to Excel through letters, e-mails or phone calls. Excel currently has seven to eight projects under production, and none of these projects has any non-payment-related issues. For the past 22 years of our being in the business, we have never come across any non-payment complaints. Excel has a strict payment compliance policy whereby we directly make payments to daily-wage workers and not to any union. We will investigate this matter from our end. We would like to mention that Excel enjoys a stellar reputation in the industry for treating all collaborators with equal respect and dignity.”
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