Kamal Haasan praises IIFA for recognising merit of South Indian films

Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan was the main guest at the first edition of the IIFA UTSAVAM awards at Hyderabad. In his speech at the event, the actor called for respecting different languages in the country.

As the event kicked off, Haasan was invited on stage. He looked dashing in a black kurta and sported short hair.

The renowned actor said, "I am happy to be here. IIFA today is speaking the language it should have spoken from the first day. All Indian language films were at one time made in Chennai— it was the national film centre. Then Hyderabad started producing films. Very rarely do we produce south language films in Mumbai."

One of the aspects that the actor stressed on in his brief speech was that respect must be given to all Indian languages. "The south film industry produce 60% of the films in India. Tamil and Telugu films account for 50%. It is only right that IIFA has recognised the true merit of South India. Without knowing Bengali, we sing the National Anthem. I want everyone to understand and respect each other's languages. It is our turn to recognise IIFA for what they are going to do for the trade, for the stars. I wish this function a grand success."