Bollywood and cricket blended seamlessly to make for a glitzy opening ceremony of the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) night with a special performance by Hollywood’s Katy Perry. Perry, whose short-lived marriage in India took place two years ago, injected energy into the crowd with her desi chic blingy choli, maang tikka and bindis and her top single ‘Teenage Dream’. Perry also adopted the colourful desi avatar for her first performance in the country, where she tied the knot with now estranged husband Russell Brand in 2010. Tens of thousands of people at the YMCA ground cheered lustily as Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Prabhudeva, Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra went through their routines during a pulsating two-hour colourful ceremony. Amitabh, who made his first large-scale public appearance post his abdominal surgeries, set the mood for the show by rendering a poem penned by Prasoon Joshi. His words were aimed to bring the spirit of cricket alive, and Big B’s baritone only added more soul to it. Following this, musical duo Colonial Cousins put together an energetic symphony of sounds with DJ Ravi Drums and Soth African percussionist group 1st Project. Priyanka put up a mesmerising performance on her latest hits, and stunned the audience with an aerial act. She set the mood for some dancing as she moved around in the audience, urging cricketers to dance. Kareena was another star performer. Be it ‘Chhammak chhallo’ or ‘Dil mera muft ka’, she stole the hearts of the audience away with her perfect moves and lively performance. It was Salman’s ‘Dhinka chika’ performance, which was truly Desi. Dressed in red pants, Salman made a dramatic entry atop a truck with dancers, and his own cutout highlighted with bulbs. He danced on several of his tracks like ‘Teri meri kahaani’, ‘Bodyguard’, ‘Munni badnaam’, ‘You wanna partner’. The opening ceremony set the tone for the tournament beginning that features nine teams and some of the world’s best cricketers.
