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Journalism of Courage
The South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce (SIFCC) has taken the protest against the latest edition of the International Indian Film Academys (IIFA) awards to another level,resolving not to cooperate with any member of the film fraternity who attends the ceremony scheduled to be held in Colombo from June 3-5.
An emergency meeting of SIFCC held on Friday decided that the non-cooperation would include a boycott of the concerned personalitys films by the Exhibitors Association of South India,technical staff and junior artistes.
The meeting was attended by representatives from Andhra,Karnataka and Kerala,apart from Tamil Nadu. According to sources,the total market in South India where over 500 movies are released every year is much bigger than the North,and contributes a much greater share towards the box office collection of Bollywood movies.
Condemning the decision to hold the awards function in Sri Lanka,the Chamber said it was opposed to the venue,not IIFA. The entire world is aware of the genocide of innocent Tamils by the army of the Sri Lankan Government. It is still in the minds of millions of Indians,and at this juncture,they are holding an award function inblood-stained Sri Lanka, said a resolution by the Chamber.
Chairman of the media and entertainment wing of FICCI Kamal Haasan had already announced his decision to stay away from Lanka,while director Mani Ratnam,actors Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya,too,are not taking part in the event. Even Amitabh Bachchan,the IIFA brand ambassador,has not confirmed his participation.
