The President of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) BN Tiwari, has condemned the exploitation of crew members in Hindi cinema, warning that the film industry could collapse if urgent reforms are not implemented to protect daily-wage workers and technicians.
He spoke out about the daily struggles of crew members, emphasizing how delayed paychecks, fewer jobs, and dangerously long hours are taking a heavy toll on daily-wage workers across sets.
In a recent interview, he explained how the shift toward streaming platforms and rapid content formats like vertical films has increased pressure on production while destabilizing the workforce.
Vertical films and the demand for higher output have stripped away the focus on quality. The biggest loss is to the daily-wage workers the spot boys, light technicians, art directors, and junior artistswho are struggling to earn a fair day’s pay in this transforming landscape.
He emphasized that below-the-line crew members including spot boys, light technicians, art directors, and junior artists—are bearing the brunt of the crisis. He highlighted an exploitative trend of 20-hour shifts, where workers are denied fair compensation, even failing to receive standard pay for an eight-hour day.
Highlighting the harsh reality of industry exploitation, the FWICE chief stated that financial instability forces workers to accept unfair terms just to survive, adding that a person needs to work and eat. With mouths to feed, they have to compromise. He further added that this crisis is worsened by OTT projects, where delayed funding makes producers difficult to track down.
He added that the federation is making a deliberate effort to listen to the workers, understand their struggles, and push for a more accountable industry.
News Edit KV Raman
