Ram Gopal Varma’s return to the crime-thriller space with Police Company has run into an unexpected hurdle right at the start. The film’s shoot was reportedly halted after representatives of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) intervened over long-pending dues allegedly owed by the filmmaker to technicians and workers.
According to a report by Bollywood Hungama, shooting was stopped on the first day after FWICE representatives reached the sets and insisted that the outstanding payments be settled before production could continue. The dues, reportedly amounting to around Rs. 1.32 crore, were linked to Varma’s earlier projects, including the Nagarjuna-starrer Officer, which released in 2018.
The issue had been brewing for several years. FWICE had reportedly been pursuing the matter with Varma since 2017, and the federation had approached the producers of Police Company after the new film was announced. While producers Bhushan Kumar and Parag Sanghvi had reportedly agreed to a settlement, the payment had not been processed when the shoot commenced, leading to the intervention on the sets.
The situation was eventually resolved after a payment was made towards the outstanding dues, allowing the production to resume. However, reports differ on the exact amount transferred, with Times of India reporting that Rs. 1.11 crore was paid to FWICE against the larger outstanding amount. The disruption therefore appears to have been a last-minute resolution of a dispute that had remained unresolved for almost a decade.
The timing is particularly noteworthy because Varma had recently been involved in a public war of words with FWICE over the federation’s stance in the Don 3 controversy. In June, FWICE had publicly alleged that Varma owed more than Rs. 1 crore to technicians and daily-wage workers, while the filmmaker had criticised the federation's functioning.
Despite the setback, Police Company is now back on track. The film stars Harshvardhan Rane in the lead, with Fardeen Khan, Saurabh Shukla, Paresh Rawal and Makarand Deshpande also part of the ensemble. Varma has planned the project as a two-part action thriller, with both films expected to be shot back-to-back and released in 2027.
Disclaimer: This article is based on discussions and information shared across available sources, social media and publicly available news items. Interpretations remain those of the users involved. Readers are encouraged to exercise discretion before drawing conclusions.
