Colombo: Sri Lankan cricket captain and star Kumar Sangakkara stole the show at an event to kick off one of Indian cinema’s biggest events in Colombo on Thursday.
The press conference to formally raise the curtain on the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards was attended by a number of Bollywood stars, along with officials from the Sri Lankan government and Sangakkara, accompanied by fellow cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya.
Trumping government officials, sponsors and even some of the Bollywood stars including Viveik Oberoi, Ritesh Deshmukh, Diya Mirza and Boman Irani, Sangakkara made an impassionate plea, thanked the organisers for choosing Colombo as a venue and entreated them to "enjoy Sri Lankan spirit".
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"Go away happy and spread the word about Sri Lanka… and come back," he said.
"After 30 years of strive, through the sacrifice of many brave Sri Lankans, we have emerged victorious…we have emerged free.
We now have a strong, stable and able government and we have people striving to live in ideal harmony, who trust each other, believe each other," he added.
"And what better way to showcase this by hosting an event that reaches 600 million people around the globe," he said.
The cricketer, whose candour and honesty earned him a few rounds of applause, will captain the Sri Lankan side at a charity cricket match against a team made of Bollywood stars on Friday.
Half of the proceeds from the match will go to Cricket for Children, a new organisation that has just been launched by members of the Sri Lankan cricket team along with IIFA and Unicef.
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Cricket for Children, a cause Sangakkara has personally been involved with since inception, is a rehabilitation programme for former child soldiers. The organisation hopes to give them a new lease of life, using the sport as an unifying force.
"We want to use cricket to reach out to children who have been robbed of their youths and want to teach them how to live free," he said.
The other half of the proceeds will benefit Habitat For Humanity International (HFHI), an NGO devoted to building simple, decent, and affordable homes.
"Cricket has been a healing force for Sri Lanka during its darkest times," Sangakkaran added. "Our cricket team has often been a beacon of hope that has helped break down barriers with players from various backgrounds, ethinicities playing together as a team."
The IIFA Weekend, which kickstarted on Thursday, will feature a number of fashion shows, a global business forum, film workshops over the course of three days and will culminate in the gala IIFA Awards on Saturday night.
