Actor and Tamil Film Producers’ Council President Vishal met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisamy on Tuesday two days after Ilaiyaraaja 75 event, to thank the government for their support in conducting the event. He took the opportunity to request for the government’s help in curbing piracy and for reduction of taxes faced by the Tamil film industry.

Speaking to the press, Vishal said, “Over 25,000 people enjoyed the show. Only with TN Government’s help we were able to do this. We have presented the CM with a coffee table book on Ilaiyaraaja.”

Ilaiyaraaja 75 ran into a few roadblocks with a few producers calling for it to be cancelled on account of alleged fund misappropriation within the Council. 

Vishal also said that their main request to the government was regarding the taxes levied on Tamil films. The Local Body Entertainment Tax (LBET) on Tamil films makes it one of the highest in the country. 

“We’ve also requested that when Tamil films and other language films are released at the same time, especially English films, Tamil films should be prioritised,” he said.

Answering questions on piracy, Vishal said that if the government wishes they can curb it in one day. “We have approached the government to help us. Like how they’ve banned porn websites, they should do the same for such piracy sites too,” he said.

Talking about Parthiban’s exit from the Vice President’s post, Vishal said that his name would go down in history. “We saw AR Rahman play Ilaiyaraaja’s tunes with the latter watching over. You won’t be able to witness this anywhere. No money can buy it, not in any Ambani wedding would you get to witness this. It was his idea and effort to execute this. All credit goes to him,” he said.

Ilaiyaraaja 75 took place at YMCA grounds in Chennai on February 2 and 3 and was attended by some of the bigwigs in the industry. The event was organised to raise funds for the Council.