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The news that many A-list Bollywood stars were planning to boycott the International Indian Film Acadamy (IIFA) Awards, which were scheduled to start on Thursday 3^rd June 2010 confirmed fears that had arisen almost as soon as the Academy announced the location of the ceremony, which was held overseas every year in an attempt to attract a more international audience.   The IIFA said it had chosen Colombo, Sri Lanka to ‘bridge boundaries’ and encourage business ties with its neighbour, while Sri Lanka had hoped the awards ceremony would be a step towards repairing its international image and boosting a tourist industry that had suffered badly because of the country’s recent troubles.

The most vocal group against the decision to hold the 2010 ceremony in Colombo, Sri Lanka, which was announced in April 2010, were film industry leaders in South India, who threatened to stop the release of films featuring actors and technicians who attended the ceremony.   The SIFCC, based in a part of the country with a large Tamil population, was backed by the Film Employees Federation of South India, the Tamil Nadu Theatre-Owners Association and the Tamil Nadu Producers’ Council.  

The biggest name to announce his intention not to attend the event was Shah Rukh Khan who said on his Twitter page, ‘…dont think i will be able to come for iifa… too much work here, will miss Colombo.’    Amitabh Bachchan had also failed to confirm he would attend, even though he had visited Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo in April to promote the awards. 

The boycott cast light on allegations that the Sri Lankan army killed tens of thousands of Tamil civilians during the 26-year civil war.   A number of civil rights groups had called for an international investigation into war crimes committed by both sides in the conflict, but all had been refused by the Sri Lankan government.

 [ADD]