The Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) is against the unilateral suggestion by producers on pay cuts for actors and technicians.
Edavela Babu, general secretary, AMMA, said that they had not yet received any official communication from the Kerala Film Producers Association on possible pay cuts. “We are all aware of the crisis and are willing to cooperate. But the decision to enforce pay cuts cannot be one-sided. What is needed is a meeting of all associations to discuss the way forward,” he said.
Once an official communication was received from the producers’ association, AMMA would decide on the response, but a meeting with the producers might not be possible in a hurry. “With the number of COVID-19 cases increasing, members of the association may not be able to travel for the meeting. Besides, there is no hurry to arrive at a decision since there is no clarity on the situation in which we might be able to begin shooting,” he said.
The unfinished films needed to be finished before beginning new ones. The remuneration that artistes received for each film could be different and was arrived at after some understanding and discussion, he said.
Implementation
One aspect that AMMA was likely to insist on was that if pay cuts were implemented, they would have to be enforced across the board. A situation where the top stars received their regular pay and people who already received little bore the brunt of the cut would not be acceptable, Mr. Babu said.
The AMMA general body meeting and the inauguration of its Kochi office have been postponed indefinitely.
