The International Tamil film awards 2003 received a jolt when Suryah the winner of the best actor and Jothika yet another winner decided not to attend the function scheduled for September 26th at Malaysia.

The organizers Astro Vanavil entrusted a jury comprising of Sujatha, SPM and Suhasini. Apart from this the organizers appealed to Tamil film viewers across the globe to vote online. The polling closed on September 1st. A Chennai based web site too was tied up for the online votes.

As per the poll the best actor winner was Suryah and Laila the best actress. Jothika nominated for best actress for 'Khaka Khaka' lost out and the organizers gave her an award in a category created for her. This sop did not go down well with Jo who felt upset because the entire KK team bagged eight awards out of the 19 categories. Yet another reason is that the tussle was with Sneha for 'Parthipan Kanavu' and Jo but how Laila pipped both at the last minute has puzzled her. Suryah too felt hurt on Jo not receiving the best actress award.

The organizers are left with a red face because Jo is very much in Malaysia and is shooting for 'Manikanta' the Arjun starrer. The function will take place in Putra stadium. The organizers have entrusted Radaan of Radhika to get the participants for the show. Sangeetha, Vineeth and few B grade artistes are performing on stage.

With Suryah and Jo not turning up the awards has only Laila, Sonia Agarwal ( best new face) and Madhavan ( best supporting actor (Anbae Sivam) to save the day. A group of freeloaders from the industry are expected to accompany the artistes. Astro and Radaan are trying last minute efforts to persuade Suryah to join. Initially Suryah’s father Shivakumar and family was supposed to attend the function.

Last year Vikram- Jothika received the best actor- actress award. Bharathiraja received the LifeTime Achievement award.