Chennai: At the 64th Annual General Meeting of South Indian Artistes Association, aka Nadigar Sangam, which took place in the city, its secretary Vishal announced that his entire team would contest in the next election of the sangam.
“The current set of office bearers will once again stand in the upcoming elections of SIAA in September next year to fulfil our dream of completing the Nadigar Sangam building which is set for completion in December 2108,” Vishal said.
Elaborating further, he said, “A star night which also comprises a star cricket show has been planned in Malaysia next January to raise funds for building construction, which Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan have consented to attend.”
Taking a dig at the previous regime and those who created trouble before the commencement of construction, he quipped, “Those opposing us for no reasons have gone tired. No fault can be found on us for we work honest and upright.”
The sangam passed a resolution urging TN government not to remove Kalaignar Karunanidhi's name from Sivaji statue kept at Sivaji Memorial. “Kalaignar holds a life membership card in Nadigar Sangam. Hence his name is to be included in the statue of thespian Sivaji Ganesan.”
On local body tax on cinema he said, “It is against the welfare of industry. I urge all in industry to join the fight for its abolition. Cinema cannot survive if taxed at 40 per cent. Already piracy is a big threat. We have asked for an appointment to meet the ministers concerned at the Secretariat on Tuesday and hope to resolve it soon.”
According to Treasurer Karthi, office bearers of previous tenure have utilised sangam's funds without proper accounts. "Our auditor worked tirelessly to correct accounts. Our estimated earlier cost for construction of the building was Rs 24 crores. With GST, it may go up to Rs 30 crore”.
President Nasser, vice presidents Ponvannan and Karunas and other EC members, thousands of film and stage actors participated in the event. Some of the veteran actresses spotted were Kanchana, Vaijainthimala Bali, Rajshree, Latha, Sachchu, 'Venniraadai' Nirmala and Prabha.
