Shankar-directed Nanban, to be released as Snehithudu in Telugu later this month, has been exempted from paying the mandatory entertainment tax by the Government of Tamil Nadu. Why, you ask? For faithfully sticking to the Tamil culture, and, of course, for meeting the U-rating criterion.

'Nanban' that came with a clean 'U' and saw a big worldwide release just a couple of days back is the first film to be exempted from entertainment tax as per the new scheme by the AIADMK rule in TN.

The Tamil Nadu government has a 22 member panel with members from various fields within the film industry who recommend movies for this tax exemption, the key criteria being the film should have a 'U' certificate from the censor board and stick to Tamil culture.

'Nanban', a faithful remake of Bollywood blockbuster '3 Idiots' boasts off a huge star cast including Vijay, Jiiva, Srikanth, Ileana, Sathyaraj and Sathyan and has seen a big opening. And now that 'Nanban' is exempted from this 30% entertainment tax it is sure to increase the film's box-office collections!