South India film associations to boycott IIFA

Chennai: The South Indian film associations have decided to boycott any actor who participates in the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) this year in Sri Lanka.

The movies of the actors who participate, will not be allowed to screen down south - in all four states. Neither will the film fraternity extend any cooperation to them.

This comes in deference to Tamil sentiments after Sri Lanka was declared as the venue for this year's IIFA.

However, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan's participation in IIFA has evoked strong protests from the Tamil film industry.

Many Bollywood A-listers including Arjun Rampal are also giving the event a miss. Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, who were a regular at IIFA, will not be attending the three-day event as they are busy in promoting 'Raavan'.

The film's director Mani Ratnam had also announced that neither he nor his film will be a part of the Bollywood extravaganza. Southern superstars Kamal Haasan and Rajnikanth have already declined the invitation to attend the event.

Haasan decided not to participate in the IIFA as a mark of protest against the alleged mistreatment of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

However, three Khans of Bollywood -- Shah Rukh, Salman and Saif Ali Khan -- will be a part of the award show along with other Bollywood celebrities.

(With inputs from Agencies)

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