Top Tamil film actors like Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Ajith, Suriya, Dhanush and several others gathered at the South Indian Artistes’ Association (SIAA) headquarters in T Nagar here for a silent protest in solidarity with the youth of Tamil Nadu who have been protesting for the conduct of jallikattu.

President of SIAA (better known as Nadigar Sangam) Nasser headed the silent protest, along with general secretary Vishal, treasurer Karthi and vice-president Ponvannan.

Movie halls remained shut while Tamil film unions, including the technicians, directors and producers associations,

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have also extended support to the protest.

Actor Silambarasan — who last week addressed Tamils across the work through a video and appealed to them to come out in the streets to protest — was missing at the silent protest.

Other actors present were Sivakumar, K Bagyaraj, Sathyaraj, R Parthiban, Prabhu, Mansoor Ali Khan, Sivakarthikeyan, Santhanam, Ramesh Khanna, former AIADMK member Anandaraj, Manobala, Y Gee Mahendran, Narain, Rahman, Trisha, Shalini, and the SIAA executive committee members including Kovai Sarala and Poochi Murugan.

Nasser said, “A symbol of the age-old Tamil culture is under threat. Students and youth have taken it upon themselves the task of rescuing the sport. They have attracted children and women to the protests.

The South Indian Artistes Association wholeheartedly supports the protests. We are holding a silent protest to show solidarity. The actors are not going to make any statements. We will stand by and watch the real heroes – the youth – continue the protest.”