MUMBAI, August 13: A delegation of film producers will meet Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde at 11 am tomorrow seeking protection for people in the film industry. The murder of Gulshan Kumar and earlier attempts on the lives of prominent producer-directors has shaken the industry.

At a meeting of Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association prominent producers this evening said there was a state of insecurity in the industry.

J Om Prakash, veteran producer and former president of the Film Producers Guild of India, said, "Munde should tell us frankly if the government is unable to protect the film people so that we can find other means of living in peace. It is our fundamental right to ask for protection and it is the duty of the State to provide security." He also added that the government was making irrelevant statements on the industry's nexus with the underworld.

Members of the film industry condemned the Chief Minister's statement on the probe into the nexus between film industry and underworld and that black money in the film industry is the cause behind the killings.

In a scathing attack, K.D.Shorey, general secretary of the Film Makers Combine, said, "The police blame us for not informing them about the threats, but what were its intelligence departments doing? What proof has Joshi to say that a God-fearing man like Gulshan Kumar or a young director like Rajiv Rai could have a nexus with the underworld." He pointed out that the Shiv Sena chief's kith and kin are also making films. "Does it mean that they also have connections with the underworld?" he said.

Meanwhile, shootings of films and television serials in Mumbai were suspended today as film-makers affiliated to the IMPPA observed a bandh in protesting Gulshan Kumar's killing. The state government-owned Film City, the largest film production facility in all of Asia was bereft of the usual bustle as only government employees managing the complex turned up for work.

``We are not participating in the strike as we are not part of the film industry. As government employees we hire out the premises for the use of film-makers,'' a spokesman of Film City told Express Newsline.

At present some of the top names in the entertainment industry are shooting in Film City, including B R Chopra, Prakash Mehra, Plus Channel, Cinevista Ads, Mudra Communications, and United Television.

Film City's spokesman revealed that the government enterprise loses nothing due to the strike. ``Our studios are booked well in advance and we allow them to work in shifts of eight hours each. We are paid our rentals anyway,'' he said.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.