The producers have decided not to allow the start of any new movie from September 7th (Thursday), alleging that the Film Employees Federation of South India had been demanding exorbitant wages, which are practically not possible.

“It has been unanimously decided that from September 7th onwards, no new films will be commenced in all four southern languages,” said Kalyan, president of South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce at a hurriedly called press conference in Chennai on Monday evening.

Most producers in all the four southern states are against the steep hike in wages demanded by the employees. To discuss the wage issue, the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce held a meeting in Chennai on Sunday where producers from all four States - Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala - met and decided on not allowing the start of any production after September 7th.

SIFCC secretary Anandha Suresh said, "We were holding talks with FEFSI for the last two months, but in vain. We are ready to hike their wages by 10 to 28 per cent but they didn’t budge an inch. In view of the above we have resolved not to launch any new film from September 7th. We also request the current projects on floors to complete them by October end".