Tollywood After the BJP Win: Why the Film Federation Was Dissolved and What Happened to Swarup Biswas
After the BJP won West Bengal in May 2026 the technicians federation that controlled Tollywood sets was dissolved and its president arrested on allegations. What is reported, who said what, and what is still unknown.
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Facts below are taken from published reports available on 20 October 2026. Anything that is only an allegation is called one.
In May 2026 the BJP won the West Bengal assembly election and formed its first government in the state. Within weeks, the body that had long controlled who could work on Bengali film sets, the Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEI), was dissolved. Its president, Swarup Biswas, was arrested. Here is what the reports say.
The timeline
- 4 May 2026: election results. BJP candidate and actor Papiya Adhikari won the Tollygunge seat, defeating former TMC minister Arup (Aroop) Biswas, according to The Federal.
- 3 June: Adhikari announced that the FCTWEI was dissolved and that its 26 affiliated guilds would cease to exist. A centrally registered body, the Eastern India Motion Pictures and Cultural Confederation, would replace them, with the stated aims of transparency, efficiency and coordination (The Federal).
- 4 June: Kolkata Police arrested Swarup Biswas on allegations of running an extortion racket in the film industry and of molesting a 42 year old make-up artist, as reported by The Statesman. These are allegations under investigation, not findings of a court.
- 4 June: rival groups clashed at Technicians’ Studio, with stones, bricks and eggs thrown and several people injured, The Federal reported.
Who is Swarup Biswas?
He headed the FCTWEI and is described as a TMC leader and the brother of former minister Aroop Biswas (ThePrint). He said his term as head of the federation ended in December 2025, according to a Times of India report quoted by other outlets. His own response to the arrest is not reported in the sources we read.
What workers and filmmakers say
Opponents of the move, mostly unnamed workers and guild members, said it was “imposed without consultation” and warned it could affect nearly 10,000 workers and their families. Supporters rejected this and accused opponents of “refusing to accept the election outcome” (The Federal). Some filmmakers questioned whether an MLA can dissolve a trade body at all, since trade union matters sit with the labour and information departments, The Federal’s analysis reports.
How the federation worked, in the industry’s own words
The same analysis says Biswas initially improved conditions, with better studio floors and insurance for technicians that helped through Covid. Filmmakers told the publication that welfare measures “slowly gave way to control”, with staffing rules that forced productions to hire technicians they did not need, and a decade in which most films were shot in about two weeks. An unnamed National Award winning filmmaker called the network a “syndicate” in ThePrint; that is an unverified allegation from an anonymous source.
In April 2025 the Calcutta High Court (Justice Amrita Sinha) observed that the federation cannot infringe a director’s right to practise their profession, in a case brought by director Bidula Bhattacharya and later by a group of 15 directors including Parambrata Chattopadhyay and Anirban Bhattacharya (IBNS via IndiaBlooms). Read more in our explainer on the Anirban Bhattacharya dispute.
What the new government has said
Papiya Adhikari said she wants to “restore a healthy work culture in Tollywood”. Actor and BJP MLA Rudranil Ghosh and Adhikari have both been quoted saying there will be “no ban culture” and an end to hooliganism, per The Federal. Scholar Sayandeb Chowdhury argued the change could have been “a moment of liberation” for an industry he says grew dependent on political patronage; director Sumon Mukhopadhyay said he cannot be “immensely hopeful” because of the BJP’s cultural policies elsewhere. Those are their opinions.
Questions people ask
Was Swarup Biswas convicted?
No. The reports describe an arrest and a remand on allegations. We found no verdict.
How is the Bengali film industry doing under the BJP government compared with the TMC years?
It is too early and there is no like for like data. The reports describe a change in who controls the industry’s bodies, not box office or output numbers. Our 2026 box office page shows what individual films have earned.
Who controls Tollywood technicians now?
According to the announcement, a centrally registered confederation replaces the dissolved guilds. Its structure and legal standing were still being questioned in the reports we read.
