Javed Akhtar calls shelving of Australian award 'unacceptable'

Veteran writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar has expressed dissent over the cancellation of the first edition of the Indian Film Festival and Awards of Australia (IFFAA) due to terror threats. He says it is unacceptable and outrageous.

"The trip to Australia for an award function is unanimously cancelled by the film industry. What has happened is unacceptable and outrageous," Akhtar tweeted on Monday morning.

The event, which was due to take place from May 7-13, would have had Indian celebrities like Sonu Sood, Hariharan, Dharmendra, Jeetendra and Ileana D'Cruz apart from Akhtar participating, along with Pakistani and Nepali artistes.

According to the event's chief organiser Vvikas Paul, they had been receiving a lot of threats from "vested interests who are not keen to see this talent come to Australia and for this event to go ahead".