IIFA 2010 Awards: Sangakkara and Jayasuria are Bollywood movie buffs

Kumar Sangakkara, current captain of the Sri Lankan Cricket team, opined that the IIFA 2010 Awards, that would be held in Colombo, is a “big opportunity” to promote Sri Lanka in Bollywood and building a better relationship between two countries.

He said to a media, “Bollywood is a great hit in Sri Lanka and all over the world. I think everyone in the world has sat up and taken notice of how big Bollywood is, how attractive it is and how talented the stars are.”

Kumar Sangakkara who is also the captain of Preity Zinta's IPL (IPL) team, Kings XI Punjab, said that Bollywood actors’ presence will create lots of excitement among the people of Sri Lanka.

Sangakkara, who is a wicket keeper and left handed batsman is also a big Bollywood movie fan. He first saw Mani Ratnam’s super hit movie, Bombay, which stars Arvind Swamy and Manisha Koirala. His other favorite movies are- Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, Monsoon Wedding, Water. Sangakkara likes these films because they carry a message.

Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Sahrukh Khan are the favorite Bollywood actors of Sangakkara. He also likes Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah. He also likes Bollywood actresses. Sangakkara would like to see Aishwarya Rai Bachchan perform in IIFA 2010.

The IIFA Awards 2010 will take place in Colombo starting from June 3, 2010 to June 5, 2010. In between, there will be a friendly cricket match between Indian celebrities and Sri Lankan cricketers. The money collected will be used in rehabilitating former LTTE child soldiers. A village for 100 families will be built. The children will be re-educated, rehabilitated.

Sanath Jayasuriya, another Sri Lankan all-rounder cricketer, said, “It's a big opportunity to promote Sri Lanka among the film fraternity here. Sri Lankans are very big fans of Bollywood and the film industry is very popular in Sri Lanka,……Sri Lankans are looking forward to this big event. It's nice for our country and good for the relations between the two countries.”

Jayasuriya saw few Shahrukh Khan movies on local channels. He likes Shahrukh Khan very much and never misses his movies.