The much hyped IIFA awards ceremony has come and gone. The high expectations Sri Lanka had prior to the event did not materialize on account of the last minute boycott by the top ranking stars of the industry. The boycott was more through compulsion than conviction. If not, there is no logic in Mani Ratnam the famed South Indian director not attended IIFA in Sri Lanka and proclaiming "no Indian should go to Sri Lanka for IIFA festival" while he had visited Sri Lanka two years ago as the chief guest of the festival of his films and to boycott IIFA in Sri Lanka two years later. The war was raging when he visited Sri Lanka but he was received with great respect as a maker of good films from South India and not as a "Tamilian". Sharukh Khan of course may have remembered what happened when he was here last time when a bomb went off at the venue he performed in Colombo. Amithab Bachchan appeared briefly prior to the event and disappeared.

The gains that were expected by Sri Lanka from holding IIFA were firstly, worldwide Publicity about the normalcy in the country. Secondly, the promotion of the country as a tourist destination. Thirdly, interaction between the Bollywood film fraternity and their Sri Lankan counterparts for the benefit of both parties. Fourthly, improvement of infra - structure to accommodate immense events such as IIFA. The objectives were worthy but both Sri Lanka government and Bollywood fraternity did not expect that awful question of ethnicity to raise its ugly head through "Tamilians" in South India, taking the glamour out of the event. In all probability the Tamil Diaspora also has a hand in this.

The Indian organisers of the IIFA event have only two objectives. The first is to expand the market for Bollywood films which already is the world leader in the film industry. Secondly maximize profits as a consequence. Bollywood should not be understood as Indian, because Bollywood is the name given to the Hindi film industry mainly concentrated in Maharashtra state in which the capital is Mumbai.

The 2000s saw a growth in Bollywood’s popularity in the world. This led India’s filmmaking to new stature in terms of quality, cinematography and inventive story lines as well as technical improvement in areas such as special effects, animation, etc. The opening up of the overseas market, more Bollywood releases abroad and the explosion of multiplexes in big cities, led to wider box office successes. Among the mainstream films, Lagaan won the Audience Award at the Locarno International Film Festival and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 74th Academy Awards, while Devdas and Rang De Basanti were both nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film. 

The Hindi film industry has favoured films that appeal to all segments of the audience with dances, music, adventure, love etc which are melodramatic and has resisted making films that target narrow audiences. It was believed that aiming for a broad spectrum would maximize box office receipts. It is relevant to note here the importance of English, especially for our actors and actresses. Fluency in English of Indian stars is very high and this helps them to communicate effectively with international cinema goers and to become popular stars.

"We’ve ended terrorism now. What fire is under the ashes? The President of Sri Lanka said recently. We Sri Lankans have to keep in mind that the mentality of our big neighbour when it comes to Sri Lanka affairs is still the "Big brother" syndrome. It was reflected in the IIFA festival too. It has been reported that many Indian stars that were in Colombo skipped the invitation from the President’s House for Tea. Moreover our film fraternity was considered not worthy of a respectable invitation for the final awards ceremony . The so - called work shop was a mockery; most Sri Lankan film artist’s not taking part.

 Indian cinema, as in all other spheres in our country has a great influence on our cinema and it is going to be so in the future too. There is much to learn from them. However Sri Lanka in its own small way has developed a film industry unique to us. It was Dr. Lester James Peiris’ Gamperaliya which won the Golden Peacock award as the best film at the third International film festival held in New Delhi, India and the Golden Head of Palenque in Mexico. Peries’ Nidhanaya, released in 1972, is considered his masterpiece. It was praised for its skillful direction by Peries’ and the inspired acting by Gamini and Malini Fonseka. It was another international success for Peries’ winning the Silver Lion of St. Mark award at the Venice International Film Festival and being selected one of the outstanding films of the year, receiving a Diploma, at the London Film Festival.

There have been more internationally acclaimed films and film directors in Sri Lanka since Gamperaliya. Dhramasena Pathiraja, Nihal Singhe, Tissa Abeysekara, Sumithra Peiris,Prasanna Vithanage , Asoka Handagama are the most prominent directors. Director Vimukthi Jayasundara became the first Sri Lankan to ever win the prestigious Caméra d’Or award for Best First Film at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival for his film Sulanga Enu Pinisa.

I am sure some of the Sri Lankan film directors could have given some relevant tips about good film making to the Bollywood film fraternity and vice versa. Unfortunately it was not to be; probably the Indians assumed there is nothing to learn from us.