Tollywood comes to standstill as producers extend strike

The Telugu Film Producers Council on Friday decided to cancel all film shootings until pending issues with AP Film Industry Employees Federation are settled.

The pending issues include the disenchantment by stuntment from Andhra Pradesh who accuse the stuntmasters who mostly hail from Chennai, of favouring members from that city. Apart from this, settlement of financial dues and other issues like revision of wages are also said to be the reasons behind the strike.

The strike was sparked off by an incident between stuntmen of Telugu and Tamil film fields on the sets of Kandireega. The incident, in which a kin of a stuntmaster was allegedly attacked by the stuntmen on Wednesday, provoked the Telugu Film Producers Council to call for a one day strike.

The strike may affect the releases of actor Venkatesh’ Nagavalli, Ravi Teja’s Mirapakaya and Nagarjuna’s Ragada.