I did not ask for a seven-film retrospective at IFFI: Kamal Haasan

Versatile actor Kamal Haasan, whose demand for a seven-film retrospective at the upcoming International Film Festival of India (IFFI) could not be accommodated by the organisers, today said the request was made not by him but by his well-wishers and friends.

"It was my friends in Delhi who insisted that three films wouldn't do but seven. Anyway they are screening my films separately, so fans won't miss. North-south bias is there but we too are to be blamed, fault is ours, we don't represent ourselves in meetings," the 55-year-old actor of "Sadma" and "Ek Duje Ke Liye" fame said.

The 10-day IFFI, which begins in Panaji on November 23, has decided to show three films each of veteran actors Soumitra Chatterjee, Asha Parekh and Sharmila Tagore, who completed their 50 years in the film industry.

The organisers said Haasan's films could not be included in the section due to technical reasons and the tight schedule. A retrospective of the actor's films, however, would be arranged by the Directorate of Film Festivals soon after IFFI, they said.