Asin says she is not a politician and just doing her work in Sri Lanka

Bollywood superstar, Salman Khan, went to Colombo and attended the IIFA 2010 show and after attending the show, the actor even decided to shoot his next movie over there.

The South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce (SIFCC) banned movies of Bollywood celebrities who attended IIFA Awards in Colombo.

Salman Khan’s upcoming movie Ready, is remake of Telugu movie and Asin Thottumkal is playing the female lead. Asin works both in South Indian and Bollywood movies. This means, her South Indian projects will be in jeopardy. In an interview, the actress recently talked about her stand in this matter.

When asked about the controversy of shooting in Sri Lanka, Asin said that she was just an actress and she did not have a say in deciding the shooting location of a movie. The location is mainly decided by the producer and director and she expressed her concerns to them but they make the final decision. She is just doing her job. Since she has given her word, she is honoring the commitment.

Regarding the issue of Sri Lanka, Asin said she feels that art brings people closer and promotes peace and the Tamil community of Sri Lanka support and encourage her movie and her work and she took this opportunity to reach out to them and meet them. The Tamil people in Sri Lanka had been through difficult times and if her movie could bring smile to their faces then that is the least she could do for them.

When asked if the whole issue has been highly politicized, Asin said that she would leave politics to politicians. She is just an artist not a politician and would not like to be dragged into controversy. The Indian cricket team played in Sri Lanka and every day many Indian tourists are going to Sri Lanka. She is here to her job and she feels that sports and arts should not politicised.

Sri Lanka government spent large amount of money for IIFA Awards 2010

In its attempt to build a positive image, Sri Lankan government spent a large amount of money in the recently held IIFA Awards 2010.

The Sunday Times reported that Sri Lankan government originally approved Rs.450 million for IIFA. The total expenditure for the event was about Rs.1.1 billion of which over Rs. 850 million has been provided by the government. This is too much for a country that just came out of a long bloody civil war.

Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, Deputy Economic Minister, Sri Lanka at a Press Conference, said that the total government expenditure for the IIFA Awards 2010 was Rs.850 million of which 450 million was approved by the Treasury.

He said that Rs.400 million was spent on renovating the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium. The government had to fix the Indoor stadium. They fixed the air conditioning and repaired two thousand seats. However, Mr. Abeywardena did not mention that the Rs.400 million is actually a loan from a state bank.

In addition, the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) spent Rs.75 million to repair the roads and roundabouts. The Ceylon Electricy Board spent a lot to power up the stadium and Defense Ministry bore the expense of making security arrangements.

However, the tourism authorities and Wizcraft officials said that the return to Sri Lanka far higher than the spending. Wizcraft Director Sabbas Joseph said that Sri Lankan government received $60 million for advertising and a publicity worth Rs.1.5 million from International media. The IIFA 2010 Colombo show was viewed by 600 million viewers in India and across 120 countries in the world.

IIFA Awards 2010: Winners and Losers

The IIFA Awards 2010 finished on June 5, 2010. This year, the award show took place in Colombo. This is the 11^th IIFA Awards and it is special for many reasons. This year at the IIFA Awards, Aamir Khan starrer 3 Idiots came out as the biggest winner. The movie won sixteen awards.

This year, the IIFA Awards took place in Colombo. The IIFA Weekend was observed from June 3, 2010 to June 5, 2010. The weekend had many exciting events. The final gala took place at the multi-purpose Sugathadas Stadium in Sri Lanka.

The IIFA Awards show served as a great opportunity to promote Sri Lanka as a tourism destination. After a long bloody civil war, the country has finally seen some political stability and now it is working hard to improve its image around the world and IIFA Awards 2010 provided the Sri Lankan government a great opportunity.

During the IIFA weekend, many interesting events took place during the weekend including- FICCI IIFA Global Business Forum, the IIFA Foundation Fashion show, the IIFA Foundation Celebrity Cricket Match, World premieres of Indian films, IIFA Film Workshop and the IIFA Awards show.

Here are the list of the nominees and winners of IIFA Awards 2010.

Best Film

Vidu Vinod Chopra- 3 Idiots (Winner)

Boney Kapoor- Wanted

Anurag Kashyap & Ronnie Screwvala – Dev D

Vishal Bharadwaj & Ronnie Screwvala- Kaminey

Sunil Manchanda & AB Corp-PAA

Best Direction

Rajkumar Hirani- 3 Idiots (Winner)

Anurag Kashyap- Dev D

Ayan Mukerji- Wake Up Sid

Vishal Bharadwaj-Kaminey

Imtiaz Ali- Love Aaj Kal

R.Balki-PAA

Performance in a Leading Role –Male

Amitabh Bachchan- Paa (Winner)

Aamir Khan- 3 Idiots

Saif Ali Khan- Love Aaj Kal

Salman Khan- Wanted

Shahid Kapoor- Kaminey

Ranbir Kapoor-Wake Up Sid

Performance in a Leading Role – Female

Kareena Kapoor- 3 Idiots (Winner)

Vidya Balan-Paa

Priyanka Chopra- Kaminey

Deepika Padukone-Love Aaj Kal

Mahie Gill- Dev D

Performance in Supporting Role- Male

Sharman Joshi- 3 Idiots (Winner)

Irrfan- New York

R. Madhavan- 3 Idiots

Abhimanyu Singh- Gulal

Abhishek Bachchan- Paa

Rishi Kapoor- Love Aaj Kal

Performance in Supporting Role- Female

Divya Dutta- Delhi 6 (Winner)

Kalki Koechlin- Dev D

Arundhati Naag- Paa

Supriya Pathak- Wake Up Sid

Kirron Kher- Kurrban

Performance in a Comic Role

Sanjay Dutt- All The Best (Winner)

Omi Vaidya- 3 Idiots

Ajay Devgn- All The Best

Johny Lever- De Dana Dan

Govinda- Life Partner

Performance in a Negative Role

Boman Irani- 3 Idiots (Winner)

Amol Gupte- Kaminey

Prakash Raj- Wanted

Kay Kay Menon- Gulal

Arya Babbar- Jail

Music Direction

Pritam- Love Aaj Kal (Winner)

Shantanu Moitra- 3 Idiots

A.R.Rehman- Delhi 6

Amit Trivedi- Dev D

Vishal Bharadwaj- Kaminey

Best Story

Abhijat Joshi,Raj Kumar Hirani & Vidu Vinod Chopra- 3 Idiots (Winner)

Ayan Mukherji- Wake Up Sid

Anurag Kashyap & Vikramaditya Motwane- Dev D

Imtiaz Ali- Love Aaj Kal

R.Balki- Paa

Best Lyrics

Swanand Kirkire- 3 Idiots (Winner)

Prasoon Joshi- Delhi 6

Irshad Kamil- Love Aaj Kal

Gulzar- Kaminey

Amitabh Bhattacharya- Dev D

Playback Singer-Male

Shaan- Behti Hawa Sa Tha Who (3 Idiots) (Winner)

Mohit Chauhan- Masakali (Delhi 6)

Sonu Nigam- All Izz Well (3 Idiots)

Atif Aslam- Tu Jaane Na ( Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani)

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan-Aaj Din Chadiya (Love Aaj Kal)

Sukhvinder Singh & Vishal Dadlani- Dan Te Nan (Kaminey)

Playback Singer- Female

Kavita Seth- Ek Tara (Wake Up Sid) (Winner)

Shreya Ghoshal- Zoobi Doobi ( 3 Idiots)

Rekha Bharadwaj- Sasural Genda Phool ( Delhi 6)

Sunidhi Chauhan – Chor Baazari (Love Aaj Kal)

Shilpa Rao- Moodi Moodi ( PAA)

Tulsi Kumar-Hafiz Khuda (8X10 Tasveer)

Debut of the year (Male)

Omi Vaidya – Jackie Bhagnani

Debut of the year (Female)

Jacqueline Fernandez – Mahie Gill

Outstanding Achievement by an Indian Internationally

Anil Kapoor

IIFA Green Global Award

Vivek Oberoi

Best Cinematography

C.K.Muraleedharan ISC 3 Idiots

Best Screenplay

Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani and Vidu Vinod Chopra - 3 Idiots

Best Dialogue

Rajkumar Hirani and Abhijat Joshi - 3 Idiots

Best Editing

Rajkumar Hirani - 3 Idiots

Best Art Director

Sabu Cyril - Aladin

Best Choreography

Bosco Martis, Caesar Gonsalves (Love Aaj Kal)

Best Action

Sham Kaushal - Kaminey

Best Sound Recording

Bishwadeep Chatterjee & Nihal Ranjan Samal - 3 Idiots

Best Song Recording

Bishwadeep Chatterjee & Sachin K Sanghvi - 3 Idiots

Best Sound Re-recording

Anup Dev - 3 Idiots

Best Special Effects ( Visual)

Charles Darby(Eyecube Labs) - Aladin

Best Background Score

Sanjay Wandrekar,Atul Raninga & Shantanu Moitra - 3 Idiots

Best Costume Designing

Anahita Shroff & Dolly Ahluwalia Tiwari - Love Aaj Kal

Best Make-Up

Christien Tinsley & Dominie Till – Paa

Famous actress, Zeenat Aman was honored for her Outstanding Achievement in Indian Cinema which was awarded by Shatrugan Sinha. J. Om Prakash also received honorary award from his grandson, Hrithik Roshan for his Outstanding Contribution to Indian Cinema.

Micromax one of the major sponsors of IIFA Awards 2010 also launched a special edition mobile phone for the IIFA Awards which had been launched by Dialog Telekom PLC, the biggest mobile operator in Sri Lanka launched the phone.

Salman Khan Refused to Patch up with Vivek Oberoi at IIFA Awards 2010

Salman Khan has once again refused to bride up the gap with fellow actor Vivek Oberoi during the IIFA Awards 2010 which recently took place in Sri Lanka. Vivek was the host of the fashion event and was due to introduce Salman Khan on the stage. He even included the phrases like "rockstar of Bollywood" and "man with a golden heart" while introducing Salman.

However, Salman Khan strongly refused the idea of being introduced by his long-time foe. Later, Anil Kapoor took up the microphone to introduce Salman Khan.

It was not the first time Vivek tried to close the difference with Salman Khan whom he once publicly criticized in a press conference. The origin of their bitter relation is Aishwarya Rai who was at some point in the past romantically involved with both the actors.

It has been a long time Aishwarya Rai parted her relationship with both of them and is now the wife of actor Abhishek Bachchan. However, Salman and Vivek could not yet sort out the problems.

The bitterness of their relationship has been so intense that many believe Salman has influenced many directors and producers not to rope in Vivek in their movies.

After a promising performance in his Bollywood debut Company in 2002, Vivek Oberoi is yet to set himself as a leading actor in the industry.

Bollywood Celebrities are gathering up in Sri Lanka for IIFA 2010

Despite all the controversies, organizers have decided to go ahead with the IIFA Awards 2010 ceremony. Bollywood celebrities are now gathering up in Sri Lanka.

The festival will take place in Colombo starting from June 3, 2010 to June 5, 2010.

Popular Sri Lankan beauty, Jacqueline Fernandez, will perform in the show. Other celebrities who would perform at the show are- Salman Khan, Lara Dutta, Riteish Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi, Hrithik Roshan, Dino Morea, and Boman Irani.

Aside from various promotional events, there will be a friendly cricket match between Bollywood celebrities and the Sri Lanka Cricket team.

The Bachchans are going to be absent in the show. Shahrukh Khan was supposed to attend the show but later it has been revealed the he would not come. Arjun Rampal would not attend the show due to prior commitments.

The Tamil film industry is not happy with IIFA and Bollywood. The South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce (SIFCC) declared that they would boycott movie makers and actors who would perform at IIFA.

Three days ago, L Suresh along with C Kalyan and G Siva, President SIFCC and G Siva General Secretary, Film Employees Federation of South India came to Mumbai

and met with Manmohan Shetty, President of the Film and Television Producers Guild, Ramesh Sippy, Yash Chopra, Financer, J P Dutta and Ratan Jain, Wizcraft officials and other members who are on the advisory board of IIFA.

The representatives requested them not to hold the show in Sri Lanka but the organizers said that it was too late.

L Suresh, General Secretary, SFCC said that the decision has been taken keeping the local sentiments in mind. He said, “As per the decision, films featuring the personalities who participated in the IIFA will be not be screened in South India.”

IIFA Awards 2010 cricket match will see Hrithik Roshan and Sunil Shetty as captains

In the upcoming International Film Academy (IIFA) Aswards 2010, that will be held in Colombo from June 3, 2010, to June 5, 2010, Bollywood celebrities and Sri Lankan cricket team will have a friendly cricket match.

The money collected from the match will be used to rehabilitate fromer LTTE children soldiers.

Hrithik Roshan and Sunil Shetty will lead the two celebrity teams while Kumara Sangakkara will lead the Sri Lankan cricket team.

About the friendly cricket match, at a press meet Hrithik Roshan said, “ I am actually very delighted and very, very proud to be part of team IIFA. Colombo here we come,….It is indeed a great honour to play with the Sri Lankan cricketing greats and my friends in the fraternity. I support the initiative of 'Cricket for Children' and IIFA Hands for Humanity and hope to put in my best efforts as a captain of a team towards the noble cause.”

Sunil Shetty who would lead the other team said, “I am very, very excited about the matches because I am very passionate about the sport.”

Bollywood celebrities who would play in the team are- Salman Khan and Dino Morea and ex-cricketers Vinod Kambli and Kiran More.

On the contrary, the Sri Lanka team will have Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan and Mahila Jayawardene.

Now the question is, “Why two Bollywood cricket teams?” According to Sabbas Joseph, Director, Wizcraft International, the company that is organizing the final gala said that many Bollywood celebrities showed interest to participate in the match. Hence, the organizers created two teams.

IIFA 2010 organizers would not bend to political pressure

The IIFA 2010 is in political trouble. The South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce Association told the IIFA 2010 organizers to shift the venue from Colombo to some where else.

The SIFCC is saying that during the war against LTTE, Sri Lankan soldiers committed atrocities against the Tamils and they are still not treated fairly.

However, Sabas Joseph, one of the directors of Wizcraft, the company which is organizing the gala of IIFA, said, “We are not under any pressure. There is no change in the venue and we are going ahead with the schedule,…If Indian cricketers can play in Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan players can come to India to play T20 matches, why can't we go there? It is just another way of bridging the gap,”

The SIFCC warned that they would boycott movies of Bollywood stars who would attend IIFA.

Earlier, news reports came out that Amitabh Bachchan, the famous Bollywood actor, who had been the brand ambassador of IIFA for the last ten years, is not going to attend IIFA for he received threats from a Tamil group who even staged protest in front of his house. However, Mr. Bachchan did not disclose anything about the matter to the media.

Amitabh Bachchan’s son, Abhishek Bachchan and daughter-in-law, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, are not going to attend IIFA 2010 but it has nothing to do with the protest. Abhishek Bachchan would be busy shooting his upcoming movie, Game, in Instanbul while Aishwarya will be busy doing an assignment in Paris for International watch brand, Longines. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is the brand ambassador of Longines.

Two other big stars who are not going to attend IIFA 2010 are – Mani Ratnam and Arjun Rampal. Both of them said that they are not going to attend the show as it clashed with their assignments.

Mani Ratnam’s upcoming movie Raavan will be released in theatres in June. The movie will be released in both Tamil and Hindi version. Arjun Rampal also starred in Raajneeti which is scheduled to release in the first week of June.

This year, the gala of IIFA 2010 Awards show would take place at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo.

IIFA Awards 2010 will help to boost Sri Lanka’s economy

The upcoming Indian International Film Academy Award (IIFA) will help Sri Lanka to build a positive image to the world. For the last twenty six years, Sri Lanka had been ravaged by civil war. Most of the time, media used to give out news of war and death and it affected the overall economy of the country.

Now, the war is over and Sri Lanka is now serious to improve its economy. Hence, it bid to host the 11^th IIFA award in Colombo.

Each year the countries have to bid to host for the award ceremony. Previously, the IIFA award took place in London, Sun City, Johannesburg, Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, Amsterdam, Yorkshire and Bangkok.

In 2009, IIFA celebrated its 10^th anniversary in Macau. This year, nine countries bid to host IIFA 2010 and out of them Sri Lanka won the bid.

Yapa Abeywardena, Economic Development Deputy Minister of Sri Lanka, said that hosting the 11^th IIFA Awards will have a positive effect in Sri Lanka’s development scheme.

Mr. Abeywardena visited the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium to inspect the progress where the MicroMax IIFA Awards 2010 will take place. He said that around 600 million viewers will watch the event on television and more than 300 foreign media representatives from more than 110 countries will be present to cover the event. This would show that Sri Lanka has all the capabilities to host an International show.

Mr. Abeywardena believes that the show would have a positive effect on Sri Lanka’s rapidly growing tourism sector. He hopes that the number of Indian tourists in Sri Lanka would increase by 50% next year.

Around 2,650 hotel rooms have been booked for the event and hotels from Colombo to Bentotal will accompany visitors.