IFFI theme song angers South Indian film reps

Panaji, Nov 23 (UNI) The inaugural ceremony of the 37th International Film Festival of India(IFFI) this evening witnesssed a vehement protest by several representatives of the South India film industry led by Kannadiga director Ravi over absence of any reference to the films of their region in the festival theme song.

Director Ravi even went to the extent of asking the organisers to stop the audio and video of the song as the guests were waiting fro the ceremony to begin.

''The song is talking of the Bharatiya cinema but in fact it is only the Bombay cinema images which have found the place in the video,'' said Mr Ravi rising from his seat.

''Could anyone please stop the song. This is a great joke played on the film industry of the other regions,'' he said.

''The South and other regions of the country have produced great films. Why do Mumbai people not understand it,'' he added.

One South Indian film actor and director associated with a film chamber said that 70 per cent of the Indian films were made outside Mumbai, and it is these films - Bengali, Tamil, Kannada and Marathi- which get international awards, so this lack of attention to these films in the theme song was shocking.

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