Before Ranveer Singh, FWICE ‘banned’ Chunky Panday but not Dharmendra or Shatrughan Sinha

While the FWICE called for a strike across the film industry, a few producers continued to shoot their movies. These included former Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani, who was then bankrolling Shibu Mitra’s 1987 action film Aag Hi Aag. The film’s ensemble cast — including Dharmendra, Shatrughan Sinha, and Chunky Panday — continued to shoot in Bangalore and Ooty, recalled Chunky recently in an interview with ETimes.

“That is why strict action was taken against me and everyone associated with the film. Dharmendra ji and Shatrughan Sinha ji were also part of the film, but they were such big stars, doing 30-40 films that banning them was not really possible. I was a newcomer then. My film hadn’t even been released, so eventually, I got banned for about a week,” recalled the actor, who made his debut with that film.

“Since they couldn’t take action against the bigger stars, they took action against me instead. Later, I apologised, and the ban was lifted within a week. But these things happen. Ours is a very small and fragile industry, and I have experienced it myself,” added the actor amid the ongoing action taken against Ranveer Singh by the FWICE.

Why has FWICE ‘banned’ Ranveer Singh?

Ranveer is also one of the biggest stars in the Indian film industry today, certainly after the unprecedented success of his recent spy thriller franchise, Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar, both parts of which collectively earned over Rs 3000 crore at the worldwide box office. The actor was supposed to start with his next, Jai Mehta’s zombie apocalypse thriller Pralay, later this year, but the non-cooperation directive by the FWICE has now cast a shadow on the same.

Also Read: Is Ranveer Singh ban legal? Its impact on his next Pralay, and why Farhan didn’t go to court

The FWICE has claimed that despite periodical reminders, Ranveer hasn’t appeared before them to present his side of the story in response to a complaint filed by Farhan and Ritesh Sidhwani’s production house Excel Entertainment. They want him to pay Rs 45 crore in damages to compensate for the pre-production expenses incurred on Don 3, which he abandoned just three weeks before the commencement of the production overseas. However, Ranveer’s representative has informed the FWICE that it doesn’t have the respective jurisdiction to interfere in the matter.