Film stars, celebrities arrive for 11th IIFA Awards in Colombo

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COLOMBO - The 11th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards will kick off here today, but without the presence of the Bachchans and other prominent Indian film personalities.

Conducting the IIFA in Sri Lanka has been seen as hurting the Tamil sentiments back in India.

The run-up to the event has seen an open threat being issued to Bollywood stars from the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce. The chamber has decided not to screen films of actors who choose to attend the function.

The IIFA is seen as Bollywood’s most coveted ceremony, but big names like Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor, Rajnikant and Kamal Hassan have opted to skip it.

However, stars like Vivek Oberoi, Lara Dutta, Bipasha Basu and Boman Irani are among those who are attending the event.

Mandira Bedi, Chunky Pandey and Javed Jaffrey will host the event that will see big stars performing on stage.

Salman Khan and Sri Lankan beauty and Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez, besides Hrithik Roshan, Suniel Shetty, Lara Dutta, Riteish Deshmukh, Dino Morea and many others will perform and attend the gala event.

A charity cricket match will also be played between the Indian celebrities led by Hrithik Roshan and Suniel Shetty and Sri Lankan cricketers led by Kumara Sangakkara in support of UNICEF’s Cricket for Children project.

The event will also showcase the works of various Indian and Sri Lankan designers. (ANI)