Dil Raju’s Panel won the Producers Council election in February this year. Until then, Dil Raju and many active producers of Tollywood were in Active Telugu Film Producers Guild (ATFPG commonly referred as Guild) saying that the Council does not represent the actual needs of those who continuously make films.
But Council and Chamber repeatedly maintained that they are the only authorized bodies of the Telugu film industry and no one can override them.
When Guild decided to stop shootings for one month last year, they could not do that without Chamber and Council’s approval. So, Dil Raju and the team went full force in the Council elections. Dil Raju and Supriya who were active in Guild contested the elections and also won emphathetically.
After the elections, there was an assurance that Guild will be dissolved soon and will work from Council for the greater good of the industry as the newly elected members are mostly active producers.
It’s been about four months after that announcement, and the Guild is still calling shots.
M9.news reached out to one of the founding and life members of the Guild about what is happening.
“There is no official word about dissolving the Guild but there is inactivity. There are no meetings whatsoever after the Council elections,” the producer told us on the condition of anonymity.
During Producers Council elections, C Kalyan Panel alleged Council being deprived of TV ads revenue intially with the LLP and later with Guild.
Sources say that the TV ads of major channels like TV9 and NTV are still going through Guild only.
Talking to M9News, Senior Producer C Kalyan says Guild is still continuing and is operating like a mafia.
“During the elections, they promised Mediclaim with funds of Guild. But in the recent Council meeting, Ravi categorically said there is no way Guild will provide funds for Mediclaim. Guild is continuing to dent revenues of Council by operating Television ads,” C Kalyan said.
Meanwhile, the official website of Guild, www.atfpg.com is still active and is accepting new registrations of members.
