COLOMBO, Sri Lanka Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has begun shooting his latest film "Ready" in Sri Lanka, weeks after the Indian ocean island hosted the annual Bollywood awards that drew protests from South Indian film artists. The film, directed by Anees Bazmee, also stars South Indian actress Asin Thottumkal and Paresh Rawal. The story is woven around Prem (Khan), who falls for Sanjanna (Thottumkal) and tries to stop her two uncles from stealing her fortune.

Amidst growing controversy over the expenditure incurred by the Sri Lankan government for the recently concluded International Indian Film Academy (IFFA) awards ceremony in Colombo, Deputy Economic Development Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena yesterday Rs. 850 million had been spent.

Sri Lankan born Indian actress Jacqueline Fernandez jointly won the Best Debut Female Actor award with Mahie Gill at the 11th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards which concluded at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium Saturday. Jackie won the award for her debut movie Aladin while Mahie bagged the award for her role in Dev D. Rajkumar Hirani’s comedy film 3 idiots swept the board by clinching 16 awards including the awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Performance in a Negative Role and others.

Colombo Chief City Administrator Omar Kamil said despite the rain, work is continuing on giving a facelift to the Colombo city for the 11th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards. Kamil told the Daily News that the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) had been called upon to beautify the environment and refurbish the roads. Roads from the outer areas of the city leading to some of the main venues of the Videocon IIFA Weekend and Micromax IIFA Awards will be redeveloped, he said.