IPL 8 Opening: Rain hampers the ceremony, not the spirit

Kolkata is not called the City of Joy for nothing, and the IPL opening ceremony that took place last night was a testament of this.

Studded with the who’s who of Indian cricket and elite social circles, the event started a bit late, thanks to the generous water pour in the evening. However, even though the arrangements suffered because of the rain, but it couldn’t dampen performers’ and spectators’ spirit.

Held at the Salt Lake stadium in the city, the event begun with a performance by music composer Pritam. He presented Rabindra Sangeet rendition of Anand Loke. The flavour of Kolkata was seen in the song, with ladies clad in traditional white and red sarees performing what looked like a traditional dance.

The night was hosted by actor Saif Ali Khan, who shares a deep connection with the sport as his late father and grandfather have represented the country in the past. Clad in a plain white Kurta Payjama and a blue Nehru jacket, the actor looked dapper as he called on stage the team captains.

As Saif Ali Khan asked the audience to give a cheer for their favourite cricketer, it didn’t come as a surprise when the loudest cheer came for Gautam Gambhir, captain of the home team Kolkata Knight Riders and the defending champion of the IPL trophy. Through out the ceremony, Saif was seen fumbling, much different from when he used to host award shows with Shah Rukh Khan. The tension of hosting a live show could not be withheld by the Humshakals actor, and a few big mistakes like calling up Shikhar Dhawan at Rohit Sharma’s entry proved to be some irritating moments.

The performance by actor Shahid Kapoor, one of the finest dancers in the industry, looked promising to kick-start the event, as he interacted well with the fans all through his performance. He managed to give an enjoyable act even after a shaky performance, once because of his bike ramming into a platform and once when he almost slipped on the stage.

Next in line was a stunning performance by Anushka Sharma, as she grooved to some of her famous songs. As was expected, the camera zoomed to Virat Kohli, Anushka’s love interest and the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore. For once, he shied away but was later seen enjoying his lady love’s moves.

Following her performance, came the multitalented Farhan Akhtar with his band, and gave the night the much-needed boost. He performed on songs from his movies, and his band complemented him well enough even though he sounded out of breath at times, making way for what would be remembered as the performance of the day.

Towards the end was the sizzling performance given by Bollywood’s very own Greek God Hrithik Roshan, who didn’t only groove to some of his best dance numbers but also electrified the whole night, thus giving the not-so-perfect evening a perfect ending.

Later, all the performers thanked the audience for bearing up with the messy weather and making it an evening to remember.

The first match of the tournament would be played today at 8 PM in Kolkata, between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians.

Picture by Indiatimes