Salman Khan "Ready" to take Sri Lanka forward

There seems to be no sense of time with the Bollywood crew as Salman Khan kept the media waiting for a couple of hours before he arrived for the press conference held at the Taj Samudra Hotel.

The long wait was fortunately worth the while. He came and sat down at the press table with his film crew, including Sri Lankan veteran film director Chandran Ratnam.

‘I am sorry for the long wait’ said the macho actor. Salman is a dashing style icon and he’s got the looks. Wearing a long sleeved shirt and a fashionable pair of trousers sporting his charming smile he apologized to the media for being late.

His ready repartee, his earthy humour and easy do it attitude adds to his captivating qualities. There is an aura of success about him. And he is quite aware of it. He looked cool and at ease, and was calm even after long hours of shooting.

And that set the tone for the media conference.

Talking about his new film and he lights up like a neon bulb and is full of enthusiasm and excitement.

Soon after the IIFA Salman Khan who attended the event made a special request to change the location of his film from Mauritius to Sri Lanka.

"My producer Rajat Rawal agreed. Sri Lanka as a destination offers so many beautiful and exotic locations".

He avers "The locations in Sri Lanka are breathtaking, the people incredibly warm and hospitable", he said.

Salman Khan who has a creative flair for painting was engrossed with pencil and paper while others were talking at the high table.

The director of the movie "Ready" is veteran film maker, Annes Bazmee who has made blockbuster movies like ‘Singh is King’, ‘Bennam’, ‘Welcome No Entry’, ‘Dewangee Pyaar’ ‘Toh Hona He Tha’, ‘Hutchul’ are just a few of the many.

Salman Khan dismissed all the queries from the media as conjecture about the South Indian protests of shooting the film in Sri Lanka. Cinema is an art he stated and queried as to why political differences should hinder cinematic art. Art and culture are one of the best cultural exports of India and it could bring the two nations much closer in the future.

The actor stressed that the Sri Lankans are a lovely people, they love Bollywood movies and the Indians and Sri Lankan have much in common. Salman questioned as to why we should not do many joint ventures the future to expedite in the process of taking Sri Lanka forward.

He claimed categorically that he was an actor not a politician "so these political rumblings will not affect me anyway", he pointed out.

Salman is witty has a sense of humour and in between the media discussions he made remarks that made the audience laugh.

The film ‘Ready’ is directed by Aneez Bazmee and a cinema production team of about 140 artistes who are all here on location.

Asin the beautiful and demure actress who shot into fame with the film ‘Gajini’ who is also here for shooting shared her thoughts.

She said " I am from South India there is a big audience in Sri Lanka who watches Tamil films. I have met some of my fans who talks highly of Tamil movies, their favourite actors and actresses

This welcome they give me here is incredible. I don’t think politics and culture should be combined I have been to Sri Lanka before and I love the people and the country. Why not take this opportunity to promote the cinematic art of both countries. Why should protests and differences affect art and culture said this dusky beauty

Asin a picture of beauty is acting opposite Salman Khan in this movie "Ready".

Salman Khan and the team was all praise for President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Namal Rajapaksa. He said Namal Rajapaksa has been very helpful and has contributed much to the successful shooting of the movie, besides many others who have given of their best to ensure the success of this venture.

The movie at an approximate cost of 50 to 55 crores will be filmed over a 30 day period until 18th July 2010 in major locations in and around Colombo. 50 – 60% of the movie will showcase Sri Lanka.

As per FICCI’s survey 2.8 billion people watch a Hindi blockbuster in the first week of its release while 4.8 billion people worldwide watch the film in the first 15 days of its release. The movie will release with 2000 prints, which will be distributed in India and worldwide.

It will reach out to more than 50-60 countries simultaneously. To name a few – South East Asia, Switzerland, Germany, German speaking Austria, South Africa, Australia, Singapore, Mauritius, UAE, New Zealand, Korea, Kenya, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, North Africa, USA, Canada, UK, Spain, France, Holland … etc.

The movie will be released in July 2011 and will be premiered in Sri Lanka as well as in India.