Men in black, beauties in gowns ruled IIFA green carpet

Dresses, train gowns, saris and black suits ruled the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards ceremony in Colombo. Just like previous years, most of the Bollywood beauties stuck to gowns and dresses while men chose to play it safe with black.

But there were some leading ladies who opted for the elegant sari. Among them was Bipasha Basu who had combined a rustic orange sari with a fuschia halter neck blouse - a creation by designer Anamika Khanna.

Sri Lankan beauty Jacqueline Fernandez also draped a white sari with lots of crystals by designer Manav Gangwani while upcoming actress Sonakshi Sinha walked the green carpet in a golden sari.

Actresses like Lara Dutta, Dia Mirza, Malaika Arora Khan and Suzanne Khan wore long dresses. While Lara and Dia, both former Miss Indias, preferred the colours beige and black respectively, Malaika looked stunning in lime green and Suzanne shone in electric blue.

TV anchor Mandira Bedi and Sophie Chaudhary drew considerable attention with their rather revealing dresses.

Mandira wore a light blue, knee-length dress that was transparent enough to expose her tattoos. Sophie chose to wear a bold black dress in sheer transparent fabric by Manav Gangwani.

The Bollywood heroes stuck to the all-time favourite black. Everyone from Hrithik Roshan to Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor to Sanjay Dutt, Govinda to Vivek Oberoi and Neil Nitin Mukesh were all wearing formal black suits.

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WATCH: Sanju, Bips unveil Lamhaa's first look at IIFA

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IIFA 2010 IN PICS: Salman, Sanjay, Bipasha, Lara attend 'IIFA Fashion Rocks' Fashion show

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Sri Lanka warmly welcomes Indian stars attending 'Bollywood Oscars' IIFA 2010

Sri Lanka extended a warm welcome to the Indian movie stars arrived in the country defying the pressure from Tamil protestors in India to participate in the 11th International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) commenced in Colombo today.

Several Bollywood stars including Vivek Oberoi, Lara Datta, Sophie Chaudhary, Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Ritesh Deshmukh, Dia Mizra and Hrithik Roshan arrived in the country despite a call from the Tamil groups to boycott the event.

Issuing a congratulatory message, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said the event is of special significance to Sri Lanka and it was only possible to hold such an international event in Sri Lanka due to the peaceful atmosphere in the country.

Welcoming the Indian stars, Sri Lanka's cricket captain Kumar Sangakkara praised the actors' courage to attend the event in Sri Lanka.

Sangakkara is teaming up with other Sri Lankan cricketers and Indian movie stars Hrithik Roshan and Suniel Shetty to play a charity cricket match on the 4th of June for the benefit of the former child soldiers.

Sri Lanka police and armed forces have implemented special security measures to provide security to the attendees.

Special police and security personnel manned the main road from the airport to Colombo and the guests were escorted by a security vehicle.

Several roads in the vicinity of the places in the capital where the events are to be held are closed for public and public are advised to avoid those areas.

The Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) has spent Rs 75 million to give a complete facelift to the City for the awards ceremony which is to be held at the Sugathadasa Stadium.

The city's hotels are well prepared to host the celebrity guests attending the award ceremony and the other events associated with it that includes a business forum, a fashion show, and a celebrity cricket match between Bollywood stars and Sri Lankan cricketers.

IIFA 2010 in Colombo is expected to be attended by more than 600 Indian film industry guests and watched by over 600 million TV viewers in 110 nations. (ColomboPage)

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IIFA 2010: Bipasha Basu, Sanjay Dutt Defend Kashmir Film

The cast members of a controversial Indian movie on Kashmir said they will not let politics get in the way of their art, whether its politics in India or Sri Lanka.

Lamhaa is a film set in troubled Kashmir where a military investigator, played by Sanjay Dutt, investigates a blast in an unlikely partnership with a young, female Muslim leader, played by Bipasha Basu. In the process they learn about, “the corrupt nexus of politicians, intelligence, militancy and the crucifixion of idealistic and passionate people,” according to the movie’s press release.

The film had to overcome local opposition as it was being shot. Its director, Rahul Dholakia, had to meet with local leaders in Kashmir to explain the story. Today the cast are facing pressure from the other side of the country to avoid promoting it at the International Film Academy event being held in Colombo, Sri Lanka this week.

To show their anger at the way Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority has been treated by the government, the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce and other groups have pledged to avoid the films of any actor or director that shows up at the event here.

The cast meembers of Lamhaa said from a stage in Colombo that some groups didn’t want their film to be made in the first place but they pushed forward despite the opposition.

“We are here to celebrate cinema and cinema sees no religion, no culture,” said Bipasha Basu, who plays Aziza in the movie. “We are here to spread the message of entertainment.”

Films that enlighten and educate can be used to calm tensions in places like Sri Lanka and Kashmir, they said.

“We are a family of mixed religions,” said Mr. Dutt, who plays Vikram in the film. “The film industry gets people together.”

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