Zubeidaa release hit in WB

Over 700 cinema halls in West Bengal remained closed on Friday as a three-day strike by workers began, hitting movie business in the state and stalling the release of Shyam Benegal's Zubeidaa.

About 10,000 workers under the banner of the Bengal Motion Pictures Union (BMPU) held silent demonstrations outside various halls demanding wage revision pending since January 1999, BMPU Joint General Secretary Dilip Ghosh told PTI.

The bipartite agreement on settlement of wages between hall owners and workers had been finalised in 1999, but the employers were yet to implement the new pay structures, Ghosh said.

Earlier, the BMPU had been party to a tripartite agreement with the owners and the state government for wage revision in 1996, but its terms lapsed in December 1998.

The strike also shelved release of Bengali film, Mala Badal, Ghosh added.

PTI