Tollywood: Workers halt shootings over pay hike dispute

The Telugu Film Industry Employees Federation has announced that its members will stop participating in film shoots starting Monday unless production houses implement a previously agreed 30% wage hike.

For months, the Federation has been in discussions with the Producers Council regarding a pay increase for all technicians and crew members working in the industry. Despite reaching an agreement, several production houses have yet to implement the revised wages.

In a decisive move on Sunday, the Federation declared that its members would only work with productions honoring the 30% hike. As a result, many film shoots across the Telugu industry have been brought to a standstill.

One immediate casualty is Allari Naresh’s upcoming film, which was set to launch on Monday but has now been postponed indefinitely.

Unless a resolution is reached soon, more scheduled shoots and releases may face disruption. The producers are willing to hike only 5 to 10 %.