Kishore Amatti
PANJIM: Let’s admit it. We Indians love Bollywood. And we love our cricket. While the latter may seem to be out of place here, it is perhaps the success of the IPL that first triggered the idea of promoting football in a similar fashion – one that had a strong dose of star power and glamour, and one that was far away from the relatively drab way that football has been promoted in India pre ISL.
Come Sunday, the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda will witness the presence of A-listers from the worlds of entertainment, politics, sports and business who will be there to catch the action live in Goa. And if football isn’t alluring enough to attract them to Goa, beer baron Vijay Mallya’s 60th birthday bash that was held on Friday, has sure got them living it up in the silvery sands of Goa.
The king of good times Vijay Mallya’s financial woes have certainly not stopped him from celebrating life king size. His penchant for mammoth celebrations has seen him invite his friends, including Union ministers, Hollywood and Bollywood stars, sports personalities and business tycoons, for his parties, especially his birthday parties in December every year.
This year being the 60th year of Mallya’s existence, he had roped in Enrique Iglesias to perform for him in the presence of some of the most influential people across industries. The private birthday bash that was secretly held at the Kingfisher Villa in Sinquerim was a good reason for celebrities to make a quick dash to Goa.
While the debut edition of ISL enjoyed attention from Ayushmann Khurana, Sonu Nigam, Deepika Padukone, Anushka Sharma, Rajnikanth etc in the stands, the second edition of the football extravaganza has seen a healthy dose of glamour with celebrities like Varun Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh, Katrina Kaif and others making it to the stadiums to support their favourite clubs.
While Varun Dhawan’s responsibilities as the brand ambassador of FC Goa have almost made him a local boy, other celeb owners and co-owners of ISL franchises have ensured that their friends come out openly in support of their respective football teams. Sunday being the D-day for the football franchises, more so for the owners of FC Goa and Chennaiyin FC, it is only normal that the celebrities will better their own attendance record this weekend.
