The Cine & TV Artistes’ Association (CINTAA), one of the Indian entertainment industry’s oldest representative bodies for actors, has strongly rejected claims that its Executive Committee has been dissolved, terming such assertions incorrect, misconceived and unsupported by the Association’s Constitution.

Established in 1958, CINTAA has, over nearly seven decades, evolved into a significant collective voice for performers working across cinema, television, digital platforms, advertising, live performances and other audiovisual media. A trade union representing film and television artistes in India, CINTAA has worked to safeguard their professional rights, welfare and working conditions within the entertainment industry.

For 68 years, the Association has addressed critical issues affecting artistes, including contracts, timely payments, workplace disputes, professional safeguards and ethical standards in professional engagements. It has also supported artistes in distress and assisted members facing professional and personal challenges.

CINTAA has worked with industry stakeholders towards strengthening regulatory frameworks and promoting fair and transparent practices across the film and television sectors.

It is against this institutional history that CINTAA has taken serious exception to what it describes as attempts to create an impression that its elected Executive Committee no longer exists.

According to CINTAA, its Constitution provides that the Executive Committee can stand dissolved only when more than 50 per cent of its elected members resign. The Association maintains that no such situation has arisen and that its Executive Committee therefore remains valid, operational and fully functional.

CINTAA further stated that vacancies arising in the Executive Committee have been filled in accordance with its constitutional framework by inducting eligible members who were next in line on the basis of the voting count.

“The version which has been circulating that the EC of CINTAA is dissolved is totally wrong, misconceived and lacks any judicial sanctity. As per the Constitution of CINTAA, the EC shall dissolve only when more than 50 per cent of the elected members of the EC resign, which is not the case at hand.

“FWICE has now jumped into the fray and, in CINTAA’s considered view, has sought to assume powers that are neither known to nor recognised under CINTAA’s constitutional framework. Acting, as we understand it, at the behest of certain disgruntled individuals, it has issued directions which CINTAA considers wholly untenable and contrary to the Constitution of the Association. Such attempts cannot determine or override the internal governance of an autonomous trade union functioning under its own Constitution.

“The Executive Committee of CINTAA remains very much in existence and continues to function for the welfare of artistes and for the protection and strengthening of the rights of vulnerable actors. CINTAA will take all appropriate steps available to it to safeguard the autonomy of the Association, uphold its Constitution and protect the larger interests of its members,” said Adv. Suvigya Vidyarthi, Legal Counsel representing CINTAA.

CINTAA stressed that the Association is not merely an office or a particular Executive Committee. It is a 68-year-old institution built around the collective representation of actors, generations of whom have turned to the Association when faced with professional disputes, non-payment, unfair treatment or vulnerability within an industry where individual artistes may not always possess adequate bargaining strength.

Over the years, CINTAA has worked towards resolving member grievances, advocating equitable treatment of performers and fostering a more secure and structured professional environment for artistes. Its role, the Association maintains, becomes particularly important for actors who may otherwise find themselves without the institutional support required to assert their rights.

CINTAA maintained that disagreements, resignations or changes within an organisation cannot, by themselves, be used to erase either its constitutional structure or its institutional legitimacy.

In a strongly worded public notice, CINTAA stated:

“All concerned are hereby informed that some confusion is being sought to be created by some disgruntled members of CINTAA for oblique motives. Our Union is fully operational and functional through its EC. Take note.”

The Executive Committee, CINTAA

CINTAA reiterated that its doors remain open to its members and that its work continues uninterrupted.

For an organisation that has stood for actors for 68 years, CINTAA said the present issue goes far beyond the tenure of any individual office-bearer. At stake, it maintains, are the independence of an actors’ union, the sanctity of its Constitution and its right to govern itself in accordance with that Constitution while continuing to represent and protect its members.

CINTAA remains operational. Its Executive Committee remains in place. And its 68-year mandate to stand up for actors continues.