Many famous Tamil stars like Kamal Hassan, Rajinikanth, Ajit, Suriya and Vikram, who are equally popular in Sri Lanka, have already announced their decision to skip this year’s controversial awards function citing one or the other reason.

Recently, critically acclaimed actor Mani Ratnam, whose film “Raavan” was supposed to be screened at IIFA, announced that he would not be attending the event.

However, none of them has clearly mentioned the reason behind their absence from the event.

Though the reason could very well be the South Indian Film Chamber’s recent threat that they will ban the screening of the films of anyone who will attend this year’s event.

Some of the biggest stars in Bollywood, too, have decided to steer clear of IIFA 2010. Interestingly, brand ambassador of IIFA from the beginning, Big B too, has confirmed his absence from the event on Twitter recently.

Stars participating in 2010 IIFA defend their decision
The South Indian Film Industry might have decided to boycott this year’s IIFA Award ceremony because of the venue, but the Bollywood stars who have reached Colombo to participate in the prestigious event have a different take on the controversy surrounding IIFA this year.

Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi defended his decision on humanitarian grounds and revealed, "A lot of corporate have come up to me and said they'd like to help the Tamil people here. So project hope has kicked off from this platform."

He added further, "I don't believe in boycotting the awards. Bollywood films are about building bridges, not putting up walls against people."

Salman’s take on controversy surrounding IIFA
According to Salman Khan, the idea to ban films just because someone associated with the film showed up at the event is simply absurd.

“This way we won't be able to visit Kashmir, Gujarat or Afghanistan. If our people are in difficulty we should not abandon them," said the actor.