Film directors hit after members quit IFTDA

It’s crisis time in Bollywood with most members of the Indian Film and Television Directors’ Association (IFTDA) resigning from the union. The big names include Aziz Mirza (the chairperson), Rajkumar Hirani, Ashutosh Gowariker, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Madhur Bhandarkar.

Highly-placed sources reveal that trouble had been brewing for a long time as IFTDA was reduced to merely solving disputes between producers and directors.

Though directors who have allegiance with big production houses may not suffer, sources say small-time directors will fall prey to unscrupulous producers. Sources say of around 500 directors in the film industry, 25 work with big banners. This crisis will directly affect those who don’t have the support of big producers. When IFTDA was fully operational, it used to get around 40-70 disputes every month.

“For those who work with big production companies, it is no big deal as they will continue to make big films with them. These directors are already a brand. But for us who make one film with some producer who has money, things will be very difficult,” said a director who makes low-budget regional and Bollywood films.

He added, “With IFTDA lying headless till a new board is formed, there will be no one to turn to if we are unfairly treated.”

Sources added that prominent members of the union were also feeling wasted as IFTDA was only holding meetings to draw in more members, discuss finance and administrative policies.
Aziz Mirza said, “There are serious issues beyond just discussing disputes. All the meetings were about how to bring in new members and collect money. I’m a creative man. I didn’t like it at all. I had requested people like Raju, Ashutosh, Rakeysh and Madhur to join in so that we could guide budding directors. They were also feeling trapped and were in no mood to carry on.”

Aziz said that the reason for this mass resignation was lack of vision. “We have held seminars and raised funds to help aspiring directors make movies. We should have made documentaries and shown them to the world. All we did was talk money and petty administrative matters.”

He added, “We should have looked beyond just making low-budget quality cinema and make a foray into developing quality TV content. The body was around for 40 years and now it has become redundant. We simply couldn’t be a part of it any longer.”