A Bollywood film workers’ union has revoked a ban on actor Ranveer Singh after mediation by industry bodies amid escalating legal tensions over Don 3.
The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), one of India’s most influential film industry trade bodies, said on Wednesday it was withdrawing the “non-cooperation directive” against the actor “with immediate effect” after intervention from producers’ and actors’ associations seeking an amicable resolution to the dispute.
Under the original directive, all FWICE-affiliated workers, including technicians and spotboys, had been told not to work with Singh until he personally appeared before the organisation over his exit.
The dispute stems from Singh’s abrupt withdrawal from Don 3, the long-delayed third instalment in director Farhan Akhtar’s reboot of the Don franchise, originally created by screenwriters Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar.
The original 1978 film starred Amitabh Bachchan, while Akhtar’s 2006 and 2011 reboots featured Shah Rukh Khan in the lead role.
Singh had been announced as the successor to Khan’s Don in August 2023, with the project meant to be “a new era” for the franchise. The films follow Don, a wanted international crime boss, and his lookalike Vijay, a street performer recruited by police to infiltrate the underworld after Don is believed to have been killed.
Excel Entertainment, the production house behind the film, have alleged that Singh exited the production in December 2025, roughly three weeks before filming was due to begin, after participating in action training, costume trials, and script-reading sessions.
FWICE said the producers claimed to have incurred losses of approximately Rs450m (£3.49m) on pre-production costs, including overseas location bookings and arrangements involving more than 200 crew members.
The timing of Singh’s exit became a major point of contention, since producers have alleged he left the film after the success of Aditya Dhar’s spy thriller Dhurandhar. The film went on to gross more than Rs 13bn (£101.1m) worldwide, while its sequel Dhurandhar: The Revenge became the second-highest-grossing Indian film of all time.
The fallout led to multiple mediation meetings involving some of Bollywood’s most influential actors, filmmakers, and producers through the Producers Guild of India, reported Variety India. Participants across the sessions reportedly included Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Alia Bhatt, Karan Johar, Rohit Shetty, Rajkumar Hirani, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Anil Kapoor, Ashutosh Gowariker, and Viacom18 studio head Ajit Andhare.
According to the publication, Singh argued during one meeting that he was unhappy with the script, the reported reduction of the film’s budget from Rs 3bn-3.5bn (£23.3m-£27.2m) to around Rs 1.5bn (£11.7m), and Akhtar’s availability because of other commitments.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, FWICE said the decision had been taken after “careful thought, introspection, and constructive discussions”.
“The entertainment industry has always thrived on mutual respect, collaboration, and solidarity amongst its stakeholders, and it is important that all efforts ultimately contribute towards maintaining these core values,” the organisation said, according to Variety India.
The organisation said the Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association (IMPPA) had played a key role in resolving the situation with its “timely intervention, valuable guidance, and earnest efforts in resolving this matter”.
It added it had received assurances that “the concerns underlying the dispute would continue to be addressed with all concerned parties” in pursuit of an “amicable, fair, and mutually beneficial resolution”.
The withdrawal came a day after Singh sent FWICE a legal notice challenging the directive and disputing the organisation’s jurisdiction over the matter. Singh argued that FWICE was not the appropriate forum since the dispute is contractual in nature and should instead be resolved through a recognised legal process.
FWICE president BN Tiwari has denied that the federation had backed down because of the legal notice. “Our organisation is 70 years old. We’ve seen countless legal notices being sent to us. We know how to handle them. This is not about that. This is about catering to the larger interest of the film industry,” he told The Indian Express’ Screen.
FWICE chief adviser Ashoke Pandit said the directive was revoked after requests from IMPPA, the Producers Guild of India, and the Cine and TV Artistes’ Association (CINTAA).
“Considering their appeal and the larger interest of the film industry, we’re immediately revoking the directive against Ranveer Singh,” Pandit told reporters in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Pandit also urged Singh and Excel Entertainment to resolve the matter privately.
The Producers Guild of India also issued a separate statement warning against “growing instances of talent, directors, and technicians reneging on their commitments to producers, often at the eleventh hour”.
The organisation said it had received formal complaints from multiple production houses and that such disputes caused “significant reputational damage” and jeopardised “the livelihoods of hundreds of technicians and crew members who depend on these projects”.
CINTAA general secretary, Upasana Singh, also called for reconciliation while speaking to reporters in Mumbai. “The film industry is a family. We have a lot of domestic quarrels at our home also, but that doesn’t mean we should escalate it every time,” she said, according to The Indian Express.
