FWICE Urges Govt to Get Rid of ‘Boycott Bollywood’ Trend Amid Pathaan Protest: ‘We Strongly Condemn…’

FWICE releases an official statement, condemning the 'boycott bollywood' trend on social media and urging the government to help get rid of the popular trend. The move comes amid protests against Pathaan in several parts of the country.

FWICE against Boycott Bollywood: Amid the protests against Pathaan on social media and outside, the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) has urged the government to seriously help with the removal of the ‘boycott bollywood’ trend. Without taking any movie’s name, the federation released an official statement, requesting the authorities to not let the industry, which provides employment to thousands, suffer because of a trend that has emerged only out of hatred. The move comes a day after actor Suneil Shetty attended an event, urging UP CM Yogi Adityanath to help get rid of the nasty trend and seek support from PM Narendra Modi in doing so.

FWICE called the ‘boycott bollywood’ trend ‘hooliganism’ and strongly criticised the vandalism of theatres. The statement read, “The recent trend of ‘#Boycott Bollywood’ has been affecting the producers and lakhs of workers working for the films and it has been seriously noted by the FWICE as it has raised a major situation of survival of the common workers, technicians and the artists who are earning their daily bread from this industry (sic).”

“PEOPLE HAVE BEEN BARGING INTO THEATRES AND THREATENING THE PUBLIC”

Mentioning that a film represents a dream and such trends are only run by a few people who believe in hatred and disrupting an industry that stands for peace and harmony. The statement further read, “A film is made with passion and dream of success. However, these blooming dreams get shattered by such trends which are many times influenced by people believing in hatred and those who do not support peace, harmony, and unity. People have been barging into the theatres and threatening the public and forcefully vacating the theatres. There have been threats to the producers and the lead actor/actresses. They are abused on social media platforms with filthy/vulgar language (sic).”

PROTESTORS SHOULD REPORT THEIR GRIEVANCES AGAINST A FILM TO CBFC

FWICE added that if anyone has any problem with the content of the film, they are encouraged to reach out to the Central Board For Film Certification (CBFC) which is a legit body to provide a thumbs up to a film for release. The federation insisted those not happy with a film use the right channel and write the board for anything impacting them or their conscience. The statement said, “We strongly condemn these acts and the boycotting of any film which is already certified by the final cell of the Film authorities which is the CBFC. Getting a film certified through the CBFC is itself an achievement as the film and the filmmakers are going through the entire process of certification. The protestors of the film should thus follow the right channel and report their grievances against the film to the CBFC and other governing authorities rather than blindly coming up with such a destructive trend to blatantly boycott the entire industry (sic).”

“STOP THE TREND ‘BOYCOTT BOLLYWOOD'”

The statement concluded, “FWICE stands strong in support of the producers who are creating films and generating employment to lakhs of people and help them to earn their living and survive with dignity. We urge the government to intervene in the matter and stop this trend of ‘Boycott Bollywood’ (sic).”

Earlier last week, a theatre in Ahmedabad was vandalised by a certain fringe group who entered a mall, tore down the posters of Pathaan, and warned the theatre people against screening the film. Several other people are protesting against the film by releasing death threats against the film’s lead actors Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone.

Pathaan, directed by Siddharth Anand, is slated to hit the screens on January 25 as the big Republic Day release this year.