The Tamil Film Producer Council and various entities from Malayalam cinema on Saturday decided to boycott elections to the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce, scheduled to be held on Sunday. The idea was to avoid a contest for the post of South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce president from Kerala. However, two candidates have been nominated for the post, forcing a contest.
While a section claims Kuselan fame director G P Vijay Kumar is the official candidate of Malayalam film associations, a rival group nominated Sashi Kumar of Kerala Film Exhibitors Association for the post. Apparently, efforts to evolve a consensus on Vijay Kumar’s candidature failed.
Tamil Film Producers Council president A Kothandaramaiah, who is backing Vijay Kumar, said that this was the first time South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce was facing such a situation. He said the decision to boycott the election was taken because it won’t be a fair one and will go Vijay Kumar, who was selected as candidate by a majority of Kerala film entities. G Suresh Kumar, president of Kerala Film producers Association, said that his association along with Kerala Film Distributors Association and Kerala Film Exhibitors Association will boycott the elections.
For his part, Vijay Kumar said he did not want to enter the fray. “Why should I stand and waste my time?” he said. The elections are being held after four-and-a-half years. In all, there are 2,088 votes. The chamber is represented by Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Kerala film bodies.
