Soundarya, Bhupathy to take south Indian cinema to the world

CHENNAI: This is mixed doubles of a different kind, and one which will be played on the global arena. Tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathy and Soundarya Rajnikanth will partner each other and take South Indian cinema to the world. And the event? South Indian Film Awards (SIFA), instituted by Bhupathi's Globosport and Rajnikanth's Ocher Studio, to be unveiled mid 2010.
"It is the first of its kind, and will be very international in terms of the quality of the event," said Soundarya Rajnikanth."It will be a celebration of the South Indian film fraternity, which is long overdue. It will be an annual event, held overseas," she added.
Awards in various categoriesboth on and off-screenwould be selected by an independent jury, and the winners would be unveiled at a glittering, red carpet event. According to sources, SIFA is likely to be a three-day event. Films selected for the awards would be screened in mainstream theatres, giving cinema lovers the world over a chance to watch small budget films. Producers would also be encouraged to launch their movie trailers and audio at the SIFA.
South Indian cinema is one of the biggest, in terms of star value and sheer number of cinema produced. On an average 100 Tamil, 130 Telugu, 60 Kannada and an equal number of Malayalam films are screened every year in theatres. There are numerous awards for the film industry, including the National awards, the Filmfare awards and many others. However, this is the first time that regional movies will be touring outside of India. Until now, film directors in India have been participants at various international film festivals, including the one at Cannes.