Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Game for glam?
|
Cricket or carnival? The IPL matches in Chennai will witness a bit of both. PRIYADARSHINI PAITANDYreports
|
Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash
Cricket carnival Cheerleaders liven up the game
Drummers, cheerleaders, film stars, music, fireworks. A New Year’s Eve party? Not quite. Would you believe a cricket match?
Starting April 23, Chepauk will witness an intriguing mix of cricket and entertainment. The DLF Indian Premier League is packaged not just as a string of cricket matches, but as a carnival, a celebration, an extravaganza.
Among those who will add oomph to the League are leading Kollywood personalities. “Cricket is a religion in India, and, in Chennai too, people love their cricketers and film stars. So we are giving them the best of cricket and entertainment. The brand of entertainment here is meant to appeal to the masses. We will give them the best of film music ever performed in South India,” says Hariharan, Director, Show Space, the event managers for Chennai Super Kings.
Sivamani will be present on all seven days to drum up support for the teams and encourage spectators to root for namma team between overs and during breaks. “I am only too happy to perform here because this is my city and I wish to share my excitement with the Chennai team,” says Sivamani enthusiastically. He will be in one of the stands for each match. Besides, he will give a percussion performance on all the match days.
An impressive line-up of playback singers and musicians comprising Hariharan, Shankar Mahadevan, Anoorada Sriram, Srinivas, Karthik, Tipu, Srilekha Parthasarathy, Selvaganesh and Vikku Vinayakram will be present. Star ambassadors Vijay, Nayanthara and Krishnamachari Srikkanth will be there on all days and appear on the stage during the entertainment session.
According to Anoorada Sriram, music performances before a sports event are common in the West and it feels good to pioneer this trend in India. This kind of combining sports and entertainment will draw whole families to the event. “Sachin is my favourite cricketer but I will support the Chennai Super Kings because I am proud to be a ‘Chennai Girl’,” she adds.
A bunch of cheerleaders has been brought in from Mumbai to keep spirits up. And every boundary shot will be accompanied by a round of fireworks.
Talking about his performance, Karthik says, “My band is planning to do something different. We hope to interact with the crowd and being a cricket freak I am kicked about performing there.”
Spectators will be spoilt for choice what with contests, promotions by sponsors and food courts being an added attraction.
The commercial for Chennai Super Kings has been made by director-cinematographer Rajiv Menon. According to him, people in Chennai are crazy about cricket and selling cricket to them is like selling oil to a Sheikh. Cricket here is seen as a national sport and not as a club or state level sport and in order to get people to identify with the clubs Rajiv Menon had to do a study of the various football clubs. “I had to create a strong sense of regional identification with the team,” he says.
The colour yellow, he feels, is apt for Chennai as it is a sunny city and the match is being played during summer. The commercial captures the true spirit of the city with its wall posters of movie stars, the orange and white stripes on the temple walls, watermelons, which reflect the heat, and the players are super-imposed on this. Menon also gives credit to Mani Sharma for composing the music, Pa Vijay for the lyrics and Ranjit, Rahul Nambiar and Hema Chandra for lending their voice to the sound track.
So with cinema and cricket joining hands, the IPL, despite the initial controversies and apprehensions about its success, has emerged as one of the most glamorous fixtures of the year.Have you booked your tickets yet?
AT A GLANCE
April 23 Hariharan (Chennai vs Mumbai)
April 26 Naresh Iyer, Suchi, Ranjith
and Benny (Chennai vs Kolkata)
May 2 Anoorada Sriram and Srinivas
(Chennai vs Delhi)
May 6 Karthik and band
(Chennai vs Hyderabad)
May 10 Vikku Vinayakram, Selva Ganesh
and others (Chennai vs Mohali)
May 21 Tipu and Srilekha Parthasarathy (Chennai vs Bangalore)
May 24 Shankar Mahadevan
(Chennai vs Jaipur)
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
|
