Chennai, Oct 31 (IANS): Actor-filmmaker Cheran in an effort to innovatively promote his upcoming Tamil drama "JK Enum Nanbanin Vaazhkai" (JKENV) will host a college-level fest called JK Fest 2013, a first of its kind initiative for students to give expression to their passion for the film industry.

The festival, slated to be launched soon, is open to all colleges of Tamil Nadu.

"Art is to rejoice, to celebrate and to make other happy. All those who entertain us today, had once been a happy student, who chased their passion and hence were successful. Keeping the above said point in mind, I'm announcing a state-level inter-collegiate competition called JK Fest 2013," Cheran said in a statement.

"This initiative is for the students to express their talent and bring out best random artistic thoughts in them. They are going to visualize, shoot and enact a particular scene in the best way possible," he added.

The festival will feature two competitions. The first one, "Act to the Rhythm", is open for all departments and the second, "Dream Vision", will be open for only visual and mass communication department students.

Cheran has written and directed JKENV, which features Sharwanand, Nithya Menen, Santhanam and Prakash Raj in important roles.

The film is slated to release Nov 22.