Oct 04 2009
Entertainment Weds Cricket!!!
And in today’s world, it is also a fact that even cricket can’t be distanced from money, more so Indian cricket. So when the two biggest activities of leisure are so close to one common ground, then why not merge them? And so did, Mr. Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, cooking up a heady connotation of money, cricket and entertainment.
Twenty20 has so far proved to be a messiah for cricket. In England, people had stopped going to the county grounds. But when this new format was introduced, the same crowds came swarming back, the excitement was there again in the atmosphere. And the same can be said of the T20 world cup. After a long and painfully slow ODI world cup in the Caribbean, cricket needed a shot in the arm.
The Indian success in South Africa did exactly that, doing enough to rejuvenate the Indian public, bring them back to cricket stadiums after the early disappointment in the West Indies. So much so that even house wives did away their daily dose of soap operas and got hooked to the television screens for all of 2 hours and 45 minutes. Besides the brawn of men, a whole new fan following had been created, only this time, it was the female form. All this change was clearly witnessed when India played Australia in the first T20 international to be played on Indian soil at Mumbai, and of course, it was a run-away success.
But this is international cricket we are talking about. While the English fans came back to the cricket grounds, because it is in their very blood that all evenings are be spent eating, drinking and talking sports. They do the same day after day, be it cricket, football or even rugby. India is different though. There is no sports culture here, and to top it all, no public interest whatsoever in domestic cricket.
And this is where the IPL sets in. On a stage that is a combination of money and cricket, entertainment will soon be dancing a new tune. And trust the Bollywood biggies to provide all the fireworks. With SRK and Preity Zinta buying stakes in the franchises, in the recent months, IPL has witnessed a blitzkrieg of music, fashion and film industry biggies jumping onto the bandwagon. For the first time, domestic cricket will be launched into a completely different orbit, becoming a mixture of all that jazz, and of course, some enthralling cricket.
The Star Owners
For long, Shah Rukh Khan looked to enhance his image into the sports arena and when the IPL opportunity came, he just couldn’t resist. With friends Juhi Chawla and Jai Mehta in tow, his production company Red Chillies entertainment bought the Kolkatta franchise.
Not far behind the dimpled superstar, was the dimpled lady of Bollywood, Preity Zinta who in a partnership with beau Ness Wadia of the Bombay Dyeing Group, now owns the Mohali franchise of the IPL.
But it’s not only the stars of the film industry who are good enough to enthrall the audiences. Vijay Mallya, the liquor baron, who also happens to own a Formula One team, has bought the Bangalore franchise. Combining his flamboyance and with cricket, plus given his affinity to all things flashy, the Bangalore crowd can expect a treat whenever they visit the Chinnaswamy Stadium during the 44 day long event.
The Team Anthems
This is an entirely new concept being introduced to cricket. At a time, when even Team India doesn’t have a song or video of its own, the eight franchise teams are going all out to enthrall the audiences in a new way. First to hit the screens is a music video of SRK jiving to the music of Vishal-Shekhar, directed by Ganesh Hegde. And there is more, with Bappi Lahiri, alongwith Usha Uthup and band Bhoomi, composing two more songs. Needless to say, there will be videos shot too, with rumours abuzz that Bipasha Basu and Rani Mukherjee will be featuring in them.
Preity Zinta has roped in the Punjabi singer Daler Mehndi for her team’s anthem and music video. Surprisingly, she is also singing a few lines of the song along with appearing in the video. While the music is composed by Sajid-Wajid, the video might also feature Bobby and Sunny Deol.
More star power on display at Mumbai as Anu Malik will be composing the team anthem for Mumbai Indians and Hrithik Roshan will be shaking more than a leg in the video. Big surprise is that even Sachin Tendulkar is expected to make his presence felt in the video.
And then there’s 20 year old GV Prakash, who is AR Rehman’s nephew, and is creating the anthem for the Chennai Superkings. At the same time, Sandeep Chowta will be lending his creativity to the Bangalore Royal Challenger’s team anthem while Sanjay Gupta will be directing their video, featuring players like Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble. Taufiq Qureshi and his band, Mumbai Stamps performed at the launch of Hyderabad’s Deccan Chargers team launch and are also associated with their other music ventures.
A Starry Sky
Expect the stadiums to be charged with electricity as one after another stars make their presence felt during the IPL and fill your evenings with that wee bit more charm. Vijay Mallya leads the field here, with Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone roped in to make appearances during the matches at Bangalore, rumour abounds, dressed as cricket balls. And to top it all, Beyonce Knowles, a friend of the baron, is slated to perform during the break at the opening match. Expect more pleasant surprises here.
Other teams are busy setting a strong competition amongst themselves. Shah Rukh Khan is slated to don the cap of the charmer himself, for his team. But he has also invited Amitabh Bachchan to be the chief guest at the opening match. The Big B will be in tow with his family as newly weds Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai are also slated to come. Meanwhile SRK’s close friend Akshay Kumar has been roped in to be the brand ambassador of the Delhi Daredevils team, given his Delhi connection. Also slated to make an appearance or two besides him, is the sultry Bengali actress Sushmita Sen.
Sameera Reddy performed at the Deccan Chargers unveiling and will continue to be one of their promoters, while south India actors Vijay and Nayantara have been paid huge sums to endorse the Chennai Super Kings.
While this in itself is engrossing, the CEOs of the eight teams promise further entertainment in the form of top names performing at the intervals in the matches, always in a bid to outdo the other seven. Cricket will be dancing a new tune come April 18th.
Fashion Speaks
Teams have also engaged fashion designers to create trend setting uniforms and kit for the teams and support staff, while also bringing out attractive merchandise lines to attract the watching fans and creating a source of revenue.
Prominent names are Manish Malhotra who is busy designing for close buddy Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders while Mallya has roped in Manoviraj Khosla for deciding the look of the Royal Challengers.
Expect cricket to don a new look.
