B’town faces boycott over IIFA

Three days before the International Indian Film Academy Awards are slated to kick off in Colombo, Sri Lanka, a statement issued by the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce says Southern stars and filmmakers will boycott all the Bollywood stars who attend the event.

“We are not opposing the awards ceremony but are against the event being organised in Sri Lanka, in an apparent reference to the alleged killing of civilian Tamils at the height of the conflict between Sri Lankan army and LTTE last year,” said the statement.

While actors Kamal Haasan, Rajnikanth and director Mani Ratnam cited the venue as their reason for non-attendance, actors Shah Rukh Khan and Arjun Rampal recently backed out, owing to ‘prior work commitments.’