The much-awaited and controversy-ridden International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards 2010 kick starts today at Colombo, Sri Lanka. Loads of Indian celebrities and VIPs in the island country will attend the film festival that will conclude on June 5.

The event will be hosted by Mandira Bedi, Chunky Pandey and Javed Jaffrey with performances from big stars like Salman Khan and Sri Lankan beauty (Bollywood actress) Jacqueline Fernandez. Bollywood celebrities like Hrithik Roshan, Suniel Shetty, Lara Dutta, Riteish Deshmukh, Dino Morea and many others will attend the gala event.

This year’s IIFA will be special, as a charity cricket match will be played between the Indian celebrities led by Hrithik Roshan and Suniel Shetty and Sri Lankan cricketers led by Kumara Sangakkara in support of UNICEF’s Cricket for Children project.

The event will also showcase the works of various Indian and Sri Lankan designers.However, big names including Amitabh Bachchan, the brand ambassador of the IIFA, may miss it following the protest by Tamilians who are not happy with the attrocities metted to the Tamilians in the island country. Actors like Shahrukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and others too have decided to keep away from the event.