The controversy around Indian actor Ranveer Singh’s exit from Don 3 continued after the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) responded to filmmaker Sanjay Gupta’s criticism over its non-cooperation directive against the actor.

The issue had gained attention after Sanjay questioned the decision taken by the film body. He had said that such moves could affect hundreds of workers who depend on film shoots for their livelihood.

Reacting to the filmmaker’s remarks, FWICE General Secretary Ashok Dubey defended the federation’s stand during a conversation with Hindustan Times. He recalled an earlier incident linked to Sanjay Gupta’s film Mumbai Saga.

Dubey said, “When Mumbai Saga was being shot and Jackie Shroff had refused to come because of a dialogue issue, the federation and IFTDA had helped solve the matter.”

He also clarified that the organisation had not banned Ranveer. According to him, the federation had only issued a non-cooperation directive, allowing members to decide individually whether they wanted to work with the actor.

“We have not banned anyone. It is an internal decision of the film body,” Dubey said.

Earlier, Sanjay Gupta had indirectly criticised the move on social media. He had written that stopping an actor from working also affected daily wage workers on film sets.

The controversy had started after reports claimed that Ranveer stepped away from Don 3. FWICE later announced an indefinite non-cooperation directive against the actor following filmmaker Farhan Akhtar’s complaint regarding the matter.

Later, Ranveer’s spokesperson released an official statement and said the Simmba actor continued to respect the film fraternity and everyone connected to the Don franchise.

The statement read, “Ranveer Singh holds the highest regard for the film fraternity and for everyone associated with the Don franchise.”

It further added that the Dhurandhar actor had chosen not to respond publicly to speculation and remained focused on his upcoming work commitments.