Sri Lanka rolls out the red carpet for IIFA

Manisha Rege
Colombo, Jun 3 (PTI) The 11th edition of the IIFA
Weekend began here on Thursday with the host country Sri Lanka
rolling out the red carpet for Bollywood actors who are
participating in the extravaganza despite calls to boycott the
event.
Stars such as Salman Khan and Hrithik Roshan are
participating in the controversy-ridden event which has been
boycotted by the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce as a
mark of protest against the alleged mistreatment of the Tamils
in the country.
The arriving stars were given a warm welcome by the
Lankan fans at the Bandarnaike International Airport
Thursday.
Roads leading from the airport at Katunayake to
Colombo were manned by police and army personnel and a pilot
vehicle escorted all guests along the hour long drive from the
airport to the city.
The film industry in the state of Tamil Nadu, which
shares close cultural and religious links with the Tamil
minority in Sri Lanka, is staying away from the event with
superstars Kamal Haasan and Rajnikanth giving it a miss.
For the first time, International Indian Film Academy
brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan is not attending the three
day event which has come to be known as the 'Bollywood's
Oscars' outside Indian shores.
The megastar is currently shooting in Gujarat while
his actor son Abhishek is in Istanbul for a film shoot and
daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai is in Paris to promote a brand.
After Bachchan addressed his first press conference in
Colombo to announce the venue, there have been two incidents
of protests by Tamil groups outside his home in Mumbai asking
him to stay away from the event.
Shah Rukh Khan who has not attended the IIFA weekends
since 2005, this time too has decided to give it a miss citing
the ongoing production of 'Ra.one'.
But Sri Lankan cricket captain Kumar Sangakara
applauded the film personalities for their "courage and
conviction" in coming to Colombo despite obstacles.
Sangakara who will play a charity match against a team
led by Hrithik and Sunil Shetty said that his countrymen were
"true fans" of Bollywood stars and expressed confidence that
his country would live up to the challenge.
Actor Vivek Oberoi who has spoken up against the
protests said that though he had a special relationship with
Tamil Nadu, he believes that the IIFA event will actually
benefit the displaced Tamil population of Sri Lanka. (MORE)
PTI MR
KAB


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