Film chamber polls mired in controversy

HYDERABAD: Elections to the film industry's umbrella body - the Andhra Pradesh Film Chamber of Commerce (APFCC) - have got caught in the thick of a controversy. A group in the film chamber has alleged that the elections are not being conducted in a fair manner. Their charge is that some individuals will get to cast more than one vote. This is what had happened in the elections held last year also, according to them.
"Despite court's ruling that the issue should be resolved, no steps have been taken to prevent some people from getting a chance to cast more than one vote
the anomaly in the upcoming elections on July 28. This is highly improper," said senior producer Chadalavada Srinivasa Rao. The nomination process has already begun for this year's elections.
It is learnt that there are nearly 1600 members in the film chamber. There are four sectors in the film chamber including those of producers, distributors, exhibitors and studio owners. All of them will cast their votes to elect the executive committee and office-bearers. However, this time the president's post is reserved for the distributors sector. The distributors sector member who will have a separate meeting will elect one among them to take over as president of the film chamber. The issue of multiple votes being cast by members was effectively handled by the Kannada film industry in elections held to the film body last year. They strictly followed the one-man-one vote norm.
In the APFCC, th e issue could not be resolved in the last few years prompting a member to approach court. What exactly the problem is in the APFCC is that a person may be producing films under different banners. Since a banner is registered with the film chamber, every person who represents that banner will get the right to vote. So, if a person can cast as many votes as the number of banners he has registered with the film chamber.
Film chamber election officer I Sujatha, when contacted, said since the rule position is clear that one banner is entitled to one vote, it should not be interpreted that the individual in whose name the banners are registered is casting multiple votes. "This issue, which was taken to the court by a member, has not been settled as yet. As of now there is no directive from the court on the issue of alleged multiple votes," Sujatha told TOI.
In recent years, the film chamber elections have turned out to be keen contests between two major groups in the industry. While one group can be described as those comprising of big producers, the other group mainly has small budget film producers.