IPL 2013 Opening Ceremony: Shah Rukh Khan steals the show!

Every year, every die hard cricket fan waits with bated breath to watch the most glamorous, spectacular and nail-biting action in the universal favourite Indian Premier League (IPL) that brings together hand picked cricket talents from all around the world playing hard to emerge the best of the lot.

Resham Sengar

New Delhi: Every year, every die hard cricket fan waits with bated breath to watch the most glamorous, spectacular and nail-biting action in the universal favourite Indian Premier League (IPL) which brings together talent from all around the cricketing world. This time around, too, the IPL 6 opening ceremony was a gala affair with fanfare, music and the works. Shah Rukh Khan, who also happens to be the owner of Kolkata Knight Riders, took up the job on his pro shoulders of enthralling audiences with his production company, Red Chillies Entertainment, that took care of every detail of the grand evening. The stage was set at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium which saw spectacular performances from stars like Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone, international rapper Pitbull and SRK as the event was kicked-off with fireworks. UPDATES FROM THE OPENING CEREMONY:

Sameer Kochhar, the host for the evening, introduces Navjot Singh Sidhu and Kapil Dev who are going to be present throughout the entire IPL 6 journey.

• The scene now shifts from the studio to the main event ground where another host - Gaurav Kapoor - is raring to take the proceedings ahead.
• 'Bigg Boss 6' participant Karishma Kotak is introduced by host Sameer as his co-host for the evening.
• It seems Pitbull can't wait to take the stage. He has tweeted: "@Pitbull finally my performance in india at #PepsiIPL opening ceremony...daleeeeee!"
• So here they come. The cheerleaders are introducing all the participating teams with a montage of placards. On the other hand, in the stadium, Bappi Lahiri (bedecked in gold, as usual) and Usha Uthup are excited for their stage performance.
• Sherry Paji is sharing his pearls of wisdom on TV.
• Now, all the participating team leads are signing the cricket pledge - “Play hard, play fair”.
• Finally, Sameer announces, the opening ceremony is on its way to begin! Yay!
• WB CM, Mamta Bannejee, pressed the go-ahead button to signal the beginning of the event. This is followed by Rabindranath Tagore’s "Aguner poroshmani" playing in the background as the young dancers take to the arena in ‘Om’ formation, holding aloft torches. Shah Rukh Khan is reciting the poetry "where the mind is without fear" with his powerful voice playing in the background.
• IPL Chief, Rajeev Shukla was seen watching the show amongst the audiences. Also spotted was BJP's Arun Jaitley.
• Walkers on stilts take over the stage now. A cavalcade of flying drummers from Europe and gymnasts showing their skills.
• Here comes Deepika Padukone...She is looking glam and sexy in a metal corset and black leather trousers. Dippy began her live performance by dancing to Honey Singh's "Angrezi beat" and is now shaking her well-toned booty to "Tumhi ho bandhu" from 'Cocktail'. Deepika finishes her act, takes a bow and leaves the stage.
• Wow! now arrives Katrina Kaif, princess style!
• Dressed up in a black lehenga-choli, she is swaying her nimble body to "Mashallah" and "Chikni chameli".
• Coming up next: King Khan!
• So here we have the man we have been looking for all this while - SRK.
• Shah Rukh begins enthralling the audiences his style by first thanking Mamta Bannejee, IPL Chief, Katrina and Deepika among many others for their presence.
• Now, SRK dancing to his popular dance numbers like "Ladki badi anjaani hai". Picture abhi baaki hai, says SRK and there begins "chammak challo". SRK requests Usha Uthup and Bappi Lahiri to join him on-stage. And there the duo go - "ooua ooua tumse hai tumse pyaar", "dum maaro" with SRK dancing in the background. And the wait is finally over! Here comes Pitbull! Once Pitbull left the stage, SRK was back, this time with Katrina and Deepika as they entertained the crowd, for a while, not exactly in 'Gangnam Style.' (Image courtesy: Ravi Shanker Tulsan/Red Chillies Entertainments)