Sri Lankans are huge fans of Bollywood. Indian cinema has a large following in the country with Hindi films shown in theatres throughout the year. There is at least one shown on local television almost every day."We love Shah Rukh Khan, I have seen many of his films like `Kal Ho Naa Ho`... He is too good. I am even fond of Amitabh Bachchan," said a shopkeeper. Currently Shah Rukh`s "My Name Is Khan" is running in one theatre in the city.
A Srilankan student, said: "Bollywood is very famous here. Many Hindi films release here in theatres and we even get them on local cable TV with Singhalese sub-titles."
Posters of Bollywood actresses Madhuri and Aishwarya adorn many shops. As far as Sri Lankan`s favourite actors are concerned, locals swear by Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan.
The last Hindi film shot in the country was Ram Gopal Varma`s "Agyaat", which was filmed extensively in the Sigiriya Jungles of Sri Lanka in 2008. In 2004, Deepa Mehta came here to shoot her critically acclaimed "Water". She filmed the John Abraham-Lisa Ray- starrer just outside of Colombo.
Right now the Sri Lankan capital is gearing up to host the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) event June 3-5. In a country where there are fan clubs of Bollywood, the announcement of IIFA coming here has excited all.
"We need to develop greater association between Sri Lankan cinema and Indian cinema," IIFA brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan said here when the announcement was made at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel last week.
"We share a lot of things in common. We have a long history of togetherness and friendship, of sharing culture and beliefs, and I think that artistically, too, we need to bring this together so that together we can form an absolutely strong force, which represents this part of the world in the forum of world cinema," he added.
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