By Umaima Shafiq

Rival factions get ready for film industry panel election
The October 18 election of the South Indian Artistes Association, also known as Nadigar Sangam is a hot topic in Chennai.
The contest is between two factions, one led by current president Sarath Kumar and general secretary Radha Ravi and another group led by actors Nasser, Vishaal, Karthi, Karunaas and Ponnvannan called Pandavar Ani.
The 70-year old Nadigar Sangam founded by late film star and chief minister M G Ramachandran and his colleagues in 1952 is located on Habibullah Road at T Nagar in Chennai.
Over the decades, the association has successfully regulated actors’ payments, disputes and other issues. It has also raised funds to pay off debts and help struggling actors. Its president post is coveted as it has the support of the ruling party and is considered a spring board for aspiring politicians.
However the Sangam’s members fell out with each other because Sarath Kumar decided to demolish the old Nadigar Sangam building and build a commercial complex by contracting it to the private-owned Sathyam Cinemas in 2010. The building was demolished in 2012, but a Nadigar Sangam member filed a court case accusing Sarath Kumar of not consulting others for the project.

Police rescue bonded workers in Chennai
Six women and eight children belonging to the Irula tribe, working as bonded labourers for a timber merchant were rescued from the Cowl Bazaar area in suburban Chennai last week.
Police conducted the rescue mission after a tip-off from a local women’s welfare organisation. The group had been hired to cut trees in land adjacent to the Chennai International airport for the past four years.
They accused their employer of forcing them to work and live in inhuman conditions.
They added that he branded the children with hot irons and did not allow them to visit or call home. Police made arrangements for the group to be sent back to their native Reddypalayam near Melmaruvathur in Kanchipuram district.

Award for film based on auto driver’s book
A 53-year-old auto-rickshaw driver from Coimbatore achieved fame when his book titled Lock Up was made into a globally-acclaimed Tamil film Visaranai that was showcased at the International Film Festival in Venice recently. The film is directed by Vetri Maran.
Chandrakumar, also known as Auto Chandran, visited Venice as the film got an award from Amnesty International Italy’s Cinema for Human Rights. The plot is about the police torture he suffered when he was jailed in Andhra Pradesh in 1983 for an offence he never committed.
After release, he returned to Coimbatore and worked as an auto-rickshaw driver besides writing novels in his spare time. He has written nine books so far. Ironically Chandran is a school dropout but is well read and loves to watch films.
He was thrilled with the standing ovation at Venice.

Religious leader dies
Dayananda Saraswathi, a globally-renowned Tamil Nadu-born Hindu religious leader and founder of the Arsha Vidya Peetham Gurukulam that teaches a syllabus based on ancient Hindu texts, died at his hermitage in Rishikesh in Uttarakhand on September 23.
He was the spiritual guru of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Special prayers were held at his ashram at Anaikatti in suburban Coimbatore.