No films in Tamil Nadu Sep 16

Chennai, Sep 10 (IANS): The Film Employees' Federation of South India (FEFSI), along with the unions of Tamil Nadu's producers, directors and artistes, has called for a strike Sep 16 to protest video piracy.

All cinema halls across the state will remain closed on that day to demand action against video piracy.

FEFSI will take out a march to Fort St. George, which houses the state government's secretariat, and present a memorandum against video piracy to Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha, a former actress herself.

All the 23 unions in the industry are participating in a relay fast that began here last week.

The unions will ask the state government to increase the penalty for piracy to Rs.100,000. They will also seek that the pirates be charged under the Goondas Act for a year's imprisonment.

Tamil Nadu Producers' Council president K. Murulidharan says viewership of films in theatres has gone down to 30 percent of total viewership all over the state because of pirated tapes.