SRK promises 'never-seen-before' show

KOLKATA: Through the turmoil and the triumphs over the past five years, principal owner Shah Rukh Khan has maintained that meddling in matters cricket at the Kolkata Knight Riders is not his style. But this is right up his street.

When the opening ceremony of IPL-6 unfolds at the mammoth Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday, King Khan will be right at the centre of it all, doing his jig in the company of Bollywood beauties Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone even as he delights in and glows in the glitz and glamour of his show. It's time to rock Kolkata. It's time for him to show why he is the best in business in the country when it comes to entertainment.

Opening ceremonies of what is the richest cricket league in the world have come a long way since the inaugural IPL in 2008, when it climaxed with the first match. The two are now held on separate days, and on the eve of the IPL-6 opener between defending champions KKR and Delhi Daredevils, the tournament is about to witness its biggest opening ceremony.

"The opening night of IPL 2013 will be a spectacular ceremony, the kind India has never seen," declared Shah Rukh, who arrived here on Sunday evening. The Bollywood superstar, who is also West Bengal's brand ambassador, will personally escort chief minister Mamata Banerjee to the stadium on Tuesday.

The opening ceremony, which KKR earned the right to host by winning the title last season, will begin on a solemn note with the ceremonial lamp being lit by the chief minister and a recorded version of Shah Rukh's recitation of Tagore's 'Where the mind is without fear' being played on the high-wattage sound system. By the time the Bollywood Badshah and his leading ladies dance to popular numbers from their respective films, the decibel and the drama will have reached fever pitch with hundreds of 'flying drummers', stilt-walkers, cheer leaders, acrobats and dancers pouring on to the stage and beyond.

Pitbull's entry overlaps with the Bollywood mix, and everyone will be hoping that the Cuban-American rapper and SRK strike up something magical right there. Pitbull will come back for a longer stint exclusively for the audience at the stadium.

While Tagore's poetry will have set the tone somewhat, KKR's Kolkata connect will be established at various stages of the programme.

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Shweta Pandey

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