Despite apex court ruling, women make-up artists face taxing times

Dixeira was on the sets of director Meghna Gulzar’s film Talwaar, being shot in Kandivli, when the association’s vigilance team conducted a raid.

They approached Dixeira and demanded to see her membership card, which she furnished.

The five-member vigilance team, headed by Prashant Sadare, then told her she could not work as a make-up artist unless she was registered with the association.

“They told me I needed to hold a membership card as a make-up artist to work as one. But the association hasn’t communicated these details to me. My card was confiscated and I was told I needed to pay Rs 25,000 as fine and collect my hair-dresser card from the union office in Andheri,” said Dixeira.

The artist claimed the CCMAA had been charging Rs 1 lakh for a make-up card but did not take into account the fact that she already had a hair-dresser card for which she paid Rs 45,000.

The general secretary of CCMAA, Stanley D’Souza, however, said the vigilance team fined Dixeira because she had hired a non-member as an assistant, which is against the rules.