Tired of unsuccessfully scanning the papers for new releases? Or, of watching Bollywood go berserk with cricket? The IPL 3, back in India after last year's South Africa tour, will be on till April 25, and so, don't expect the noise to die down. After all, IPL and Bollywood make for a devastatingly-glamorous combination.
What you can do instead is keep yourself abreast of whether Shah Rukh Khan will cheer his team from the stands or keep away from the ground thanks to superstition about his presence causing his team's defeat.
You could also talk about Shilpa Shetty's infamous quote about how “anyone who is someone is here today”. Here being her newly-opened lounge, Royalty, for the crème de la crème in Mumbai. Coffee breaks at office and kitty parties will never be the same for a month at least, and this will only help you polish your IPLese! So here's your update on the who's who of IPL and what they are up to.
Shah Rukh Khan
King Khan he may be at the turnstiles, but when it came to cricket, his was a different story. Kolkata Knight Riders had one of the most high-decibel launches two seasons ago with designer Manish Malhotra creating black and gold outfits and an inspiring anthem that still goes on, but nothing came of it. Reason for the losses, among others, boiled down to the black in the jersey; so purple it became this year. But, tying up with innerwear brand Lux Cozi got KKR in a spot again for the company's alleged involvement with the sensitive Rizwanur Rahman case. Not wanting any more bad vibes, SRK snapped the ties. Status of KKR this season? Won two of three matches!
Preity Zinta
She is lying unusually low, may be due to the Ness Wadia break-up or because she wants the performance rather than glamour to speak. She is trying to do her bit for AIDS awareness on the IPL platform as she is the UN AIDS Ambassador. The first Kings XI Punjab match had an HIV-positive person present for the toss and the players wore red ribbons on their jersey. But controversy raised its ugly head again with a newspaper advert in Punjab likening freedom heroes such as Chandrashekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh to IPL fans. Preity immediately apologised and pulled out the ads. Two back-to-back losses till date, but the actor tweets that her team will bounce back.
Shilpa Shetty
When Shilpa Shetty bought an 11 per cent stake in the Rajasthan Royals last year with then boyfriend-now husband Raj Kundra, the sizzle quotient of IPL went up by several notches. So, the femme fatale has loads of money now and has got a new anthem for the team with a brand new TV commercial featuring her alongside the RRs and a new jersey, of course. She even bought the glitzy lounge Poison in Bandra, a tony suburb of Mumbai, and redesigned it as Royalty, an exclusive club boasting 100 special guests and royalty members. Last updated status signalled two straight losses for her team.
Rest of Bollywood
If you thought that the rest of Bollywood was merely watching from the sidelines, think again. Whether it is through Twitter or televised shows, some of the most unexpected names are getting their part of the IPL action — Aamir Khan, for instance. The actor is part of a Star TV show organised by CINTAA (Cine & Television Artists Association) and will reportedly take to the stage after a gap of 10 years! Titled ‘Star CINTAA Superstars Ka Jalwa', it will be primarily targeted at rescuing low TRPs, thanks to IPL, and will be a two-hour affair that will go on for six Sundays. Not just Aamir, Salman, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay, along with yesteryear stars, will be part of the show. Colours, too, has a singing reality show called ‘IPL Rockstar' to combat the cricketing onslaught.
Salman Khan's interest in IPL could be rising with last year's rendezvous with IPL chairman Lalit Modi. But, this year, he has chosen to support Preity's Kings XI Punjab. Sherlyn Chopra got her 15 seconds of fame when SRK invited her to sit with him for the matches in the VVIP enclosure. Rahul Bose, who is known to be a rugby fan, has developed affinity for cricket now and tweeted that he'd be supporting Mumbai Indians. Ditto Abhishek Bachchan. Actor Madhavan wrote that he felt bad that Chennai Super Kings didn't approach him to be its brand ambassador! And, ex-super model Mehr Jessia and actor-husband Arjun Rampal seem to be making hay while the sun shines. They have bagged the contract for hosting 55 fashion shows and an equal number of parties after every IPL match.
Ours is not to question why…
