Ranveer Singh has served a legal notice to the Federation of Western India Cine Employees, challenging its “Non-Cooperation Directive” issued after his exit from Farhan Akhtar’s Don 3. FWICE says it will respond at a press conference.
Actor Ranveer Singh has hit back against the "Non-Cooperation Directive" issued against him by the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), serving the film body with a formal legal notice.
The development, as reported by Hindustan Times, comes days after the film association issued the disciplinary order following Singh's alleged last-minute withdrawal from filmmaker Farhan Akhtar's highly anticipated action tentpole, Don 3.
While the report did not specify the exact clauses detailed within the legal notice, it stated that the FWICE will be required to respond to the litigation in court. Sources within the film body have confirmed receipt of the legal notice and indicated that they will officially respond to the same via a press conference scheduled for later on Wednesday.
Earlier, FWICE had stated how Akhtar and his producing partner Ritesh Sidhwani of Excel Entertainment had informed the body that they had already incurred approximately ₹45 crores strictly toward the pre-production logistics of the film, before Singh chose to walk out.
According to the film body, Akhtar asserted that such an "abrupt withdrawal" from a committed project was highly unacceptable and stood in direct contradiction to "industry ethics, and longstanding professional norms."
Prior to passing the non-cooperation directive, the FWICE had issued multiple official communications to Singh, requesting him to personally appear before the federation's committee to present his version of events. While Singh chose not to appear before the association in person, the FWICE noted that the actor sent an official response disputing their structural jurisdiction.
According to the body, Singh's response asserted that the FWICE would not be the appropriate forum for the complainants to raise their grievances, further stating that the issues raised were strictly contractual in nature and required formal adjudication before a recognized legal forum.
After the actor's much-publicised walkout from the project, Akhtar's Excel Entertainment had first approached The Producers Guild of India, claiming that Singh’s eleventh-hour exit resulted in heavy losses.
The actor, reportedly, accused the company of “unprofessionalism” and claimed that Akhtar focused on other commitments instead of Don 3. It was further claimed that the actor was only re-approached to build on the success of Dhurandhar.