The already planned for strike began at Valluvar Kottam today morning. This strike is happening to show the disapproval of the plan to implement the 12.36% service tax levied by central government.

Big names of the industry showed up at 8 am today for the strike, including Rajni, Vijay, Radharavi, Sarathkumar, Surya, Karthi, SV Sekar, Prabhu, Vijaykumar and many other actor and actresses. Rajni addressed the crowd and while doing so said, " The taxes shouldn't be levied taking the Cinema industry's plea into consideration. The increase of taxation will only adhere to the increase in the circulation and use of Black money, we shall bring about a law to punish the non tax payers."

South Indian Film Artistes' Association Head Sarathkumar also spoke to the reporters about the 13.6% tax on artists who earn more than 10 lakhs per year. " The film artists are already paying taxes for their incomes. This addition will only add to their burdens which will in turn suffocate the producers. This will eventually cause a negative impact on the industry."