The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), on Monday, May 25, announced its decision to take strict action against Ranveer Singh following his abrupt exit from Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani’s Don 3. While many believed that FWICE chief advisor Ashoke Pandit announced a ban on the actor, he has explained that FWICE “can’t ban” people. He clarified that they have only issued a “non-cooperation” directive, asking its members not to work with the actor henceforth.
Ashoke Pandit says Ranveer Singh not banned
Ashoke Pandit, while speaking to ETimes, clarified, “See, first of all, the entire conversation has become wrong. It`s not a ban. See, we are not the court; we can`t ban people, yaar. So we have issued a non-cooperation. Non-cooperation means all our members who belong to 30 crafts, you know, will not work with him. It`s my choice whether I want to work with him or not. So we, as a trade union, have issued this thing to our members that as far as wherever he is there, you will not work till the time. This issue is not sorted out. Because we very strongly feel that this is a very wrong trend which will start.”
Ashoke further argued that such a trend of actors abruptly walking out of projects could harm producers financially. He highlighted that not every production house is as financially secure as Excel Entertainment and can afford to lose crores. “They will commit suicide,” he remarked.
Ashoke Pandit says there`s no closure in the matter
He also added that the federation attempted to resolve the matter amicably and even sent out three invitations to Ranveer Singh to meet Farhan and FWICE to discuss the issue. However, he said that the actor did not respond until he learned about the press conference announced by FWICE. On hearing about the conference, Ranveer reportedly sent an email to the federation stating that “this doesn’t come under a jurisdiction.”
Meanwhile, Ashoke admitted that there is currently “no closure in the matter” while maintaining that Ranveer needs to sit down with the federation and the producers to resolve the matter. He also hinted at the possibility of negotiations regarding the Rs 45 crore compensation that Farhan Akhtar is allegedly seeking from Ranveer Singh. “If you say it`s not 45 (crore), we say 30 (crore) or whatever,” he said.