A joint statement has been issued by all trade bodies of Tamil cinema saying that shootings had been cancelled on Friday and Saturday to enable their members to take part at a mega felicitation function for Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.

The statement said: “Thanks to the tax exemption given by the Tamil Nadu government, more number of films is being released which had resulted in more employment to our workers. The government has also reduced charges for shooting in public places.”

“Besides all these, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has allotted land near Paiyanoor to construct houses for members of the film fraternity. Hence, the entire Tamil film industry is holding a mega felicitation function in Chennai on Saturday to express our gratitude to him.”

“So, it is the duty of every one of us to ensure that the function is a grand success,” the statement said and added: “Arrangements for the function are being made by Tamil Film Producers Council office bearers Rama Narayanan, Sivasakthi Pandian, K Muralidharan, Anbalaya Prabhakran, S A Chandrasekaran, Kaja Mohideen, South Indian Actors Association office bearers Sarath Kumar, Radha Ravi, Vagai Chandrasekar, V C Guhanathan of FEFSI, Distributors Association chief Kalaipuli G Sekaran, Theatre Owners Association president Abirami Ramanathan, office bearers of television industry associations Kushboo, Viduthalai and members of PRO Union.”

The statement said a string of cultural events had been planned in which top guns of Tamil cinema including Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan would take part. The event at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium will be presided over by Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan.