BOMBAY TIMES (October 3, 2015)
Chennai is the place to be today because there is going to be action of another kind here. Academy Award winner A R Rahman, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Alia Bhatt are all geared up to perform at the grand opening ceremony of the second edition of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL). As the country gears up for a 79day football extravaganza, an ostentatious and colourful ceremony will flag off the first match of the defending champions, Atlético de Kolkata and the home team Chennaiyin FC, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai.
A grand opening ceremony has been planned. Apart from the three leading Bollywood acts, the show will feature 500 dancers and 2,000 participants in a card show. Arjun Kapoor will host the show. Aishwarya will perform to a medley of her songs and Alia will dance to songs choreographed by Shiamak Davar. Rahman has worked on a special project with his choir for the players walk out that will lead up to the National Anthem at the ceremony.
Said the maestro, “We are the world's greatest democracy. People come from north, south, east and west. Yet, when we hear the National Anthem we feel like we are all part of one country. At any sports event, there is so much of excitement. So we will have a lot of drummers, a lot of voices, a choir and a band along with me singing. It's a collage of these things culminating into one piece. I am proud to be a part of it. I wanted to create something which will build up to the National Anthem. I want people to take a cue and join in and be a part of this project.“
The inaugural season of the league captured the imagination of sports fans across India with over 429 million viewers on TV and over 1.5 million people in-stadia and making it the fourth most attended football league in the world. This season promises to be bigger and better, with a grand and befitting opening ceremony never seen before for an Indian sports league. The opening ceremony will air today at 6 pm on Star Sports 2, 3, HD1, HD2, HD3, Star Gold and hotstar.
A grand opening ceremony has been planned. Apart from the three leading Bollywood acts, the show will feature 500 dancers and 2,000 participants in a card show. Arjun Kapoor will host the show. Aishwarya will perform to a medley of her songs and Alia will dance to songs choreographed by Shiamak Davar. Rahman has worked on a special project with his choir for the players walk out that will lead up to the National Anthem at the ceremony.
Said the maestro, “We are the world's greatest democracy. People come from north, south, east and west. Yet, when we hear the National Anthem we feel like we are all part of one country. At any sports event, there is so much of excitement. So we will have a lot of drummers, a lot of voices, a choir and a band along with me singing. It's a collage of these things culminating into one piece. I am proud to be a part of it. I wanted to create something which will build up to the National Anthem. I want people to take a cue and join in and be a part of this project.“
The inaugural season of the league captured the imagination of sports fans across India with over 429 million viewers on TV and over 1.5 million people in-stadia and making it the fourth most attended football league in the world. This season promises to be bigger and better, with a grand and befitting opening ceremony never seen before for an Indian sports league. The opening ceremony will air today at 6 pm on Star Sports 2, 3, HD1, HD2, HD3, Star Gold and hotstar.