As YRF head honcho Aditya Chopra pledges to bear inoculation cost of 30,000 workers, studio to set up vax booths on premises; FWICE to initiate talks with producers for similar drives.
Aditya Chopra
In April, mid-day was the first to report that Yash Raj Films’ head honcho Aditya Chopra had initiated a dialogue with the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), expressing his desire to bear the inoculation expense of all workers at Film City (B-Town’s invisible man shows up in time of need, April 19). Now, the filmmaker and the cine association have written to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, seeking permission to implement the vaccination drive for 30,000 film workers. Not only that, Chopra has planned to throw open the doors of his Andheri studio to set up the immunisation drive that will be sponsored by the Yash Chopra Foundation.
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Ashok Dubey, general secretary, FWICE, reveals that talks between Chopra and the cine body began three months ago. Sharing details of the plan, Dubey says, “We can set up vaccination camps at the YRF studio and in the offices of cine associations, including the FWICE. YRF has stated that they will sponsor both doses for 30,000 FWICE members above 18 years of age. If each vaccine costs Rs 400, the production house is spending over R2 crore on the jabs, over and above the infrastructure cost.”
The FWICE has approximately five lakh members. Asked about the immunisation plan for the four-lakh-plus workers who won’t benefit from Chopra’s drive, Ashoke Pandit, chief advisor, FWICE, insists they are drawing up a sponsorship programme. “Once this vaccination camp begins, I will approach Rohit Shetty, Ajay Devgn, the Producers’ Guild, IMPPA [Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association], OTT platforms and top TV production houses. Many will come forward to help.”
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