Ram Gopal Varma has finally cleared dues amounting to Rs 1.11 crore that date back nine years. The pending compensation for film crew was paid after they halted production on the sets of his upcoming cop drama Police Company, starring Harshvardhan Rane, on behest of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE).

How did Ram Gopal Varma pay nine-year-old dues?

Ram Gopal Varma, who owes Rs 1.11 crore from pending projects from as long as nine years ago, didn’t pay the residual amount even after periodical reminders from FWICE over the years. That forced the film body to request its members to stop working on the set of Police Company, which forced the filmmaker to clear the outstanding dues in order to continue production.

“On Monday, we had no choice but to stall the shoot. We asked the cameramen, fighters, and members of the lighting department not to work until the payment was made. The outstanding amount involved several departments, including fighters, spotboys and the sound department,” FWICE Honorary General Secretary Ashok Dubey told the .

Even prior to taking such a drastic step, the FWICE reached out to not only Ram Gopal Varma, but the production house T-Series, to clear the outstanding payment from Varma’s previous films. But RGV continued to stall the film body, as per FWICE President BN Tiwari. However, once the production was halted, he ended up clearing the dues, leading to the shoot resuming soon after.

“It’s high time producers recognize that technicians and daily-wage workers, who contribute to completing a film, also have families and responsibilities. We don’t want to stop a shoot or cause difficulties because the producer can also suffer as a result. We will continue to seek actions when payments are withheld,” said FWICE Chief Advisor Ashoke Pandit.

Earlier this year, when Ram Gopal Varma wrote on X that the FWICE should be “banned” for passing a non-cooperative directive against Ranveer Singh for his unceremonious exit from Farhan Akhtar’s Don 3, Ashoke Pandit revealed in a press conference that Varma himself has outstanding dues of over Rs 1 crore from his films Sarkar Raj (2017) and Officer (2018).

Since both films failed at the box office, RGV did not pay his crew in full. After repeated reminders, the fillmmaker wrote to the FWICE in 2019, assuring them of payment and asking for more time. “We’re aware we’re accountable to the workers, and we appreciate the federation’s support, but we request them to provide a final deadline of March 4, 2019. Falling to clear all our dues by then, we’re ready to be liable to any kind of sanction by the federation,” stated his letter.

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However, Pandit pointed out that Varma didn’t honour his commitment for the next seven years. “That was 2019. This is 2026. Not a single penny has come to us till this date,” he said.