Raavan is facing opposition in Sri Lanka.
For Bollywood fans in Sri Lanka, it is pay back time. After Bollywood stars decided to oppose going to Sri Lanka, now their fans in Sri Lanka are opposing them and their films. This came to light when people in Sri Lanka did not allow the screening of Raavan at a theatre in Colombo to protest against Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Vikram, the leading stars of the film, who had opposed IIFA awards held in the city earlier this month. The fans were so upset that they not only prevent the concerned cinema hall from showing the film, but even set it ablaze.
The incident happened after an unidentified group from Eastern Sri Lanka issued a warning to all cinema hall owners in the country to not screen the movies, which feature those stars from India, who has decided not to visit Sri Lanka for the IIFA awards.
The owners of the cinema said that two people had visited their hall a couple of days ago asking them not to screen the film. Though the owner of the cinema had decided to go ahead with the screening of the film after they were assured full security by the local police, this did not prevent the protesters from torching the cinema halls.
Though, Ravaan facing opposition and its screening being interrupted in Sri Lanka is not a good news for Bollywood, the industry should still be hopeful that the situation will not be as bad in the future as it seems to be this week. Raavan after all is a film by Mani Ratnam, the director from South India, who has a soft corner for the struggling Tamils in Sri Lanka. May be, with films of some North Indian makers hitting theatres next week, the reaction from people of Sri Lanka will be slightly different.
