CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Film Federation is threatening action against actors and actresses who recently appeared on television channels for special festival programmes in violation of a ban instituted a year ago.

The federation had banned film stars from giving interviews or making any appearances on television on the ground that it was adversely affecting revenues at the theatres.

"We have found that when stars appear on television, especially on festive occasions, it affects almost 90 per cent of our revenues," ndtv.com quoted Selvin Raj, convenor, Film Federation of Tamil Nadu, as saying.

While that appears an exaggeration, producers certainly have a valid point that overexposure of stars on television eats into theatre collections.

"Trailers are not about actors and actresses, they are how the producer publicises the film. There is no necessity for stars to be on TV at all," actress Khushboo has been quoted as saying.

That this kind of tough talking is not being seen on the Hindi film scene must be a huge relief to the likes of Subhash Chandra's Zee TV, what with its current programming strategy pivoted around airing of new films.