Both cricket and Bollywood are the biggest entertainment modules in the country and they hardly go without meeting each other now and then. This liking of each other came into full force, thanks to the recently concluded World cup but seeds were sown much earlier.
One can easily say that it is the IPL that bought Bollywood close to cricket but on a notable change it isn’t. Bollywood has always been cricket frenzy but it was hardly shown to the whole world. With the friendly frenzy nature of IPL where a game closes off with in three and half hours IPL was instrumental in bringing Bollywood close to the normal form of cricket.
Cricket in this country became immensely popular as soon as INDIA lifted the world cup in 1983 but Bollywood was at its best during that era and remains so now. Given a chance if you ask a cricket enthusiast/Bollywood fan he would sit in his home tuning to a match rather than having a pop-corn at the cinema.
The advent of T-20 cricket in a sense has paved way for the stars to be a part in the stadiums witnessing the thrilling extravaganza with in hours as which star will sit out completely for a day to watch an ODI or a test match. SRK though a lover of hockey was the first person from Bollywood fraternity who made his presence felt at the stadia when team India won the first edition of t-20 World cup in South Africa.
What resonated was SRK buying an IPL team in the form of Kolkatta Knight Riders and stars from then onwards started pouring in to the stadium for their respective cities. King Khan a master tactician when it comes to promotions paved way for other franchisees such as Royal Challengers Bangalore [RCB], Delhi Daredevils [DD] to rope inn eminent Bollywood personalities [Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone for RCB and Akshay Kumar for DD] to cheer and in a way to promote their franchisees.
This resulted in some stars being roped in for the match and the other stars sitting at home feeling why cant they be at the stadia witnessing the extravaganza. The IPL fever caught the attention of stars in a way that after team India became No. 1 team in tests most of them were turning for the grounds to witness live matches. Add to it, media hype, stars interaction with their fans on social networking sites was also another factor in bringing celebrities to the match
The recently concluded World cup witnessed who not from the Bollywood. From Bollywood superstars like Aamir Khan to South superstars such as Rajinikanth, Venkatesh and Mahesh Babu, everyone was cheering for team India at the grand finale between India and Sri Lanka.
Cricker enthusiasts/Bollywood stars such as Vivek Oberoi, Rahul Bose, Siddharth etc did made their presence through out all matches that Indian team played. Some even cancelled their shoots to be at the venue. “Cricket has always been in their blood but it’s a films schedule that keeps them busy”, said an insider from Bollywood.
Film directors too were bowled by the fever that grabbed the country for two months. Amidst brain scorching for their scripts makers like Madhur Bhandarkar, Kunal Kohli etc, just like ordinary citizens watched the live action in the stadiums.
Aamir Khan cancelled the shoot of his upcoming to be at the venue of Indo-Pak match along with his wife. Add to it, Bollywood has always been a part of Indian cricket team. The love marriage that took place between former Indian captain Tiger Pataudi and veteran actress Sharmila Tagore rubbed off the vibes to other stars such as Sangeeta Bijlani who married to another former Indian captain in the form of Mohammad Azharuddin. Numerous affairs between cricketers and Bollywood stars always existed and are persisting now.
Some say due to the grief that he received over his on and off relationship with Deepika Padukone, Yuvraj Singh had a slump in his form, whereas a relationship with a Bollywood star had a great support for Zaheer Khan [always had tryst with injuries] who is contemplating the fact of getting married to Isha Sharvani. The present Indian Captain M S Dhoni has had his share of link-ups with southern hottie Laxmi Rai before he tied the knot with Sakshi.
Geeta Basra, another Bollywood hottie had an on and off relationship with Harbhajan Singh and it is still under wraps whether they are seeing each other or not especially after she made presence at the World cup final.
Another main reason for the proximity levels between Bollywood and Cricket is the growing trend in ad circles to feature them together in ads. Well, this trend has come in full force long time ago [remember Sachin’s ads with Big B and SRK] but the number of ads featuring cricket stars with top notch Bollywood stars has climbed up thanks to the demand from both fields.
“Cricket and Bollywood are inseparable things in India and what better way than selling a product by featuring sports and arts” said an ad professional. “It is easy for a product to reach youth or to teenagers as they often identify themselves with either actors or sport stars”, he added. One of the biggest brands in the country, Pepsi cola, always goes hand in hand by featuring cricket stars and Bollywood actors; memorize the Sehwag ad with Ranbir.
So it is difficult to imagine in near future for ads that won’t have the combo of Bollywood and cricket. Add to it, some stars use cricket matches for their film promotional activities; SRK promoted RA.One whereas Abhishek and Bipasha promoted Dum Maro Dum during World Cup matches.
As of now even though IPL is not on full-swing as the country is still rejoicing the world cup win, come some time one will see full brigade of Bollywood force turning up to IPL matches either to encourage their cities or their team provided if they are the ambassadors.. A new name in the form of Riya Sen is added to the list of growing brand ambassadors for a new IPL team Kochi Tuskers. Hard to think of other franchisees with out a Bollywood brand ambassador in near future.
Just like bitter taste of cumin seeds and the sweetness of jaggery cannot be separated after they are applied to each others head [bride and groom] in a south Indian marriage ceremony it is difficult to imagine neither Bollywood nor cricket getting away from each other. And on the whole cricket and Bollywood are the two factors that an average Indian rejoices after going through his daily work.
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