‘Raavan’ not to be screened at 11th IIFA awards: Mani Ratnam

CHENNAI - Noted Bollywood filmmaker Mani Ratnam on Monday said that his forthcoming film ‘Raavan’, starring Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, will not be screened at the 11th India International Film Academy (IIFA) awards to be held in Sri Lanka.

Speaking on the sidelines of an inaugural event of a voluntary organization called NAAM here, Ratnam said that the ‘Raavan’ would not be screened at the International Indian Film Academy awards, as the film is not complete.

Replying to question related to some Tamil movements opposing the release of the film…and if any Indian should not go for the Sri Lankan film festival..as this time Aishwarya Rai is also not invited for the awards ceremony.., Mani Ratnam said: “I don’t know about them individually. I mean, it is not my call to tell them what they should do and not do, individually. But we are not going. The film is still not yet ready. We are still working on the background score of the film. The film will be ready till June. We are not going, the film is not going.”

‘Raavan’ is a loose adaptation of the Hindu epic ‘Ramayana’, in which Sita, the wife of Lord Rama, was abducted by the Lanka King, Ravana.

Reportedly, the film will have a new twist on the ‘Ramayana’, as the film does not follow the plot of the epic.

Academy Award-winner A R Rahman has composed the score of the film, which is slated to release on Friday (June 18).

The IIFA 2010 is being viewed in Sri Lanka as a ‘coming out’ platform for a nation that is emerging from 30 years of civil conflict.

However, there are speculations that the decision came after IIFA is being looked upon as controversial function by some south Indian filmmakers, as it is being held in Sri Lanka, where Sri Lankan Tamils were reportedly massacred last year.

The Tamil film fraternity has also rejected the idea of an Indian film event in Sri Lanka. Even popular Tamil actors Rajnikanth, Kamal Hassan, Vijay, Ajith and Surya have also reportedly declined to take part in the IIFA.

Recently, the Tamil community group in Mumbai staged a protest at the residence of Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, who is a brand ambassador for IIFA.

Bachchan is due to attend the awards ceremony in Colombo from June 3-5.

IIFA is an organization dedicated to promoting Indian Cinema abroad, focusing on places with concentrations of Indian Diaspora, and the awards function last year was held in Macau in hina. (ANI)