J Jayalalithaa was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison on Saturday
Tamil Nadu's film industry launched an eight-hour fast on Tuesday to rally support for former chief minister J Jayalalithaa, who has been sentenced to four years in prison following a lengthy corruption case.
Some 3,000 directors, actors, producers and others were taking part in the hunger strike for the ex-film star-turned-politician, while the industry itself shut down for the day.
"We decided not to have any film shootings, editing, dubbing or movie screenings across Tamil Nadu from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm today," said Diamond Babu, a public relations officer for the film industry.
"This is a peaceful hunger strike without any protest to show our sympathy, love and affection to (former) chief minister," he said.
Known as "Amma" (Mother) to her supporters, Ms Jayalalithaa was jailed on Saturday in Bangalore for illegally amassing wealth - including gold, properties, hundreds of pairs of shoes and thousands of saris - in a case that started 18 years ago.
The 66-year-old was forced to step down as Tamil Nadu chief minister upon her conviction which also saw her fined 100 crores.
"We still consider her as chief minister... the punishment we feel is harsh, it is vindictive," leading south Indian actor R Sarathkumar told NDTV.