[Lifestyle] Unpaid salaries, dirty sets, harassment and threats: Not all is well with Indian television industry

[Wolf.17]

 

It is a story that actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani has recounted many times. While working on the show that brought her into prominence, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, she suffered a miscarriage and had to rush to the hospital. That’s when she got a call from the production house, Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji, to come in the next day. “The next day I took all my medical papers to Ekta to tell her it is not a drama. She got uncomfortable and told me not to show the papers,” Smriti said.

It has been decades since the incident happened but the TV industry is yet to rid itself of issues regarding long work hours, impossible demands, hygiene and safety, delays in payments, and toxicity on the sets. The recent Krishna Mukherjee case again highlighted the problems as the actress of Dangal TV show Shubh Shagun accused its producer, Kundan Singh, of not clearing her dues and the team locking her in her make-up room when she protested.These are hardly one-off cases. In 2016, actress Shilpa Shinde quit Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hai after disagreements with the producers; she even accused them of mentally torturing her. Last year, Jennifer Mistry Bansiwal accused Asit Modi and the Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah executive producer Sohail Ramani of mental harassment and of not clearing her dues. TV actors often speak about pulling shifts that can stretch from 18 to 20 hours, working while ill, getting food that is inedible, dirty washrooms and often going without breaks for long durations. They also complain about waiting for long to get payments, and in many cases, not getting them at all.

https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/television/unpaid-salaries-dirty-sets-harassment-and-threats-not-all-is-well-with-indian-television-industry-9311490/