IPL 2011 Season 4 started with a glittering opening ceremony at Chennai. The opening ceremony was a short and low key affair this time round and the performances included singing performances by Sunidhi Chauhan, Kunal Ganjawala and Raghav. The final performance was the most popular one as the Chennai crowd watched Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan and Southern siren Shriya Saran dancing to several numbers including Chak De India, Love Mera Hit Hit, Marjaani and Appadi Podu. Finally the ceremony finished off with some amazing display of fireworks.
IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi had promised that the third edition of the Indian Premier League would be bigger and better than the previous seasons and he seems to have left no stone unturned to fulfill his promises. The opening ceremony of IPL 3 will be a huge event and there would be a bunch of international celebrities and Bollywood stars performing in the gala event. Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone will dazzle the spectators at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai with her scintillating performance. Amongst the performers in the IPL opening ceremony are Deepika, Internation R&B singer Akon, Ali Campbell of the British reggae band UB40, Björn Again and Lionel Ritchie. The performances in the opening ceremony is expected to start with Ali Campbell of the British reggae band UB40 singing the evergreen hit song “Can’t Help Falling In Love” which will be followed by Bjorn Again entertaining the audience Abba’s super hit Dancing Queen. This performance is promised to be spectacular with visual effects too. Then there will be a choreographed light show announcing Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone’s entry. Deepika and the forty dancers on stage with perform a medley of songs including I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas, Uff Teri Ada from Karthik Calling Karthik and Twist from Love Aaj Kal. This will be followed by performances from Lionel Ritchie and then Akon. The IPL opening ceremony would be grand and Bollywood stars, celebrities, cricketers, corporate biggies, politicians and several other eminent personalities are invited to the opening ceremony. After the opening ceremony, there would also be a post-match party cum fashion show at a posh hotel in Mumbai.
The opening ceremony would be telecast live on Set Max from 6 PM Indian Standard Time.
Now, IPL management and Lalit Modi has decided to introduce a carnival before the start of the Indian Premier League. This will be perhaps the first carnival in cricket and it would take place at 12 noon on April 16. All the players participating in the IPL and various Bollywood celebrities will take part in the carnival. It will be a grand parade on the streets of Cape Town with all the IPL teams with their own floats and there would be music, Bollywood celebrities and cricketers in this great extravaganza. Lalit Modi said that this will be a unique experience where all the 200 top cricketers from the world would be present in the parade at the same time.
It seems that IPL T20 season 2 has been marketed very well in South Africa and hope that it turns out to a huge success again as the last year. Cricket and Entertainment seems to be mixed very well in this year’s IPL extravaganza too. The ticket sales have also been quite good till now and it seems that Lalit Modi will again have the last laugh.
All the tickets for the IPL T20 season 2 opener in Newlands, Cape Town has supposedly been sold out within two hours today. Most people were quite critical of how the South African people would react to the Indian Premier League after the venue had to be shifted to South Africa due to clash with general elections in India. But if the occupancy of the IPL opener is any hint for the rest of the tournament then it might turn out to be a huge success in SA too. The IPL opener on April 18 would include a grand opening ceremony and two matches back to back. In addition to that there will be the mix of Bollywood and Hollywood in the IPL season 2 opener. IPL has been aggressively promoted amongst the masses and most of the matches has also been organized on cities with huge Indian population. The ticket prices has also been kept quite affordable so that all the South African people can enjoy this extravaganza of cricket and entertainment without burning a hole in their pocket. And this hard work by BCCI and South African Cricket seems to have already shown the results. It was expected that ticket sales in SA might take a few weeks to catch up but the sell out of the tickets in the IPL opener has ended all the negative presumptions. And there has been booking of tickets not only from South Africa but from other countries like England, Middle East and South Africa. IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said that IPL T20 season 2 might help them in gaining a global fan base.
Although the full occupancy in the IPL opener cannot guarantee full occupancy for the rest of the matches but it is surely a definite trend that cannot be denied. Let us wish that the occupancy is full in most of the match and IPL T20 season 2 turns out to be a grand success. And whatever we say it seems Lalit Modi always has the laugh laugh.
