Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has invited the Indian film industry to shoot in the picturesque locales of the country which is experiencing peace after a prolonged civil war.
Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who was in Colombo for the official launch of IIFA 2010, met with Rajapaksa and during the 45-minute meeting the two discussed plans to combine the assets and talents of both countries in the area of film production.
Colombo will host IIFA 2010, the largest annual event of Bollywood cinema.
The country is experiencing peace after the government`s military victory against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)last year.
"Bachchan was the guest of President and his wife Shiranthi Rajapaksa. President Rajapaksa and Bachchan discussed aspects of the Indian and Sri Lankan film industries, with emphasis on developing good cinema of the whole sub-continent, combining the assets and talents of both India and Sri Lanka," an official release said.
Bachchan too was appreciative of the opportunities for film production available in Sri Lanka in the current situation of peace, the release said.
Rajapaksa said the Government was keen to develop the Sri Lankan film industry and saw many possibilities of partnership with India in this regard.
"Bachchan was impressed by the work already done in establishing the Mahinda Rajapaksa National Tele-Cinema Park, at Tissamaharama, a southern coastal town, which is a brainchild of the President," the release said.
"Bachchan and President Rajapaksa were agreed on the need and possibility of building bridges of understanding through the cinema," he said.
The President and Bachchan also discussed cricket which both of them follow keenly and the actor praised the Sri Lankan players for their performances in the current IPL series.
Earlier speaking at the IIFA launch, Bachchan said Sri Lanka, even if it is a small country in size, had a big heart.
"According to me, it`s a very big country because it has a big heart and that makes it big. The kind of reception I have got here is by far the best I have got anywhere else," he had said.
Bachchan added that he would urge the Indian film fraternity to explore Sri Lanka as a shooting destination.
"It`s a beautiful country and I will urge my fellow industry members to come and explore this beautiful land," said Bachchan.
