Amid the raids being carried out by Maharashtra’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure food safety in the state, the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) has raised concerns over the quality of food and basic facilities available to daily-wage workers on sets across Mumbai. In a formal letter dated August 11 to Maharashtra FDA, the cine body drew attention to the conditions faced by technicians and other ground-level crew members who often spend long hours on set, particularly at Film City in Goregaon and other major production hubs.
The federation has sought the intervention of the state authorities, arguing that access to safe food and decent facilities cannot be treated as an afterthought in an industry that depends so heavily on its workforce. “For several years, FWICE has been receiving numerous complaints from its affiliated unions and members regarding the pathetic, unhygienic and substandard quality of food being served by several film, television and digital content producers during shootings,” its General Secretary Ashok Dubey wrote in the letter.
The federation alleged that the problem goes beyond complaints about taste or quality, pointing instead to food that could potentially endanger the health of workers who are already operating under demanding conditions. “The meals supplied at shooting locations are often stale, poorly cooked, nutritionally inadequate and prepared in unhygienic conditions. Such food poses a serious risk to the health and safety of our members, who are required to work continuously for long hours under physically demanding conditions.”
The organisation said the matter has been raised with government authorities earlier as well, but claimed that those efforts have not resulted in meaningful change. For the technicians and workers affected, the issue is ultimately about something more fundamental than workplace convenience: whether people spending entire days on a production set are being provided the minimum conditions they are entitled to expect. “Despite repeatedly bringing these issues to the notice of the Labour Department and other concerned Government authorities, regrettably, no effective action has been taken,” the letter noted. “Consequently, scores of workers, technicians and artists continue to suffer and remain deprived of their basic right to safe, hygienic and wholesome food while at their workplace.”
FWICE also pointed to the absence of proper spaces where crew members can sit down and eat. “At several shooting locations, workers are compelled to have their lunch or dinner in open areas exposed to dust, heat, rain and unhygienic surroundings,” the letter read. “In many instances, there are no designated dining areas, inadequate seating arrangements, lack of clean drinking water and poor sanitation facilities. Such conditions are wholly unacceptable and fall far below the standards expected at any organised workplace.”
It has now asked the Food and Drug Administration to take a more active role in examining these concerns. The federation urged Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe’s office to conduct surprise inspections at production locations across Mumbai, including checks on how food is stored, prepared and supplied. It has also called for catering arrangements to be examined under the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
At the heart of the federation’s complaint is a contradiction that has long existed within the entertainment industry: productions may be built around elaborate sets, large crews and tight schedules, while the people working behind the scenes can still struggle to access the most basic workplace necessities. “The workers, technicians and artists of our industry are the backbone of the Media & Entertainment Industry… it is deeply unfortunate that they are denied even the basic dignity of safe and hygienic food and decent facilities to consume their meals.”
The complaint also comes amid a wider conversation around working conditions in the Hindi film and streaming industries. Long working hours, payment-related disputes and concerns over labour practices have increasingly brought attention to what happens behind the camera.
