SRK checks in and the show begins
The only sound louder than the drumbeats that reverberated through Salt Lake stadium throughout Monday was the buzz about when Shah Rukh Khan would turn up.
When SRK finally made an appearance, almost 14 hours after he had landed in town, you could be excused for thinking that the opening gala of IPL-6 had started a day earlier than scheduled.
That was around 6.05pm. The lake of heads milling inside the stadium in anticipation of the Bollywood superstar's arrival suddenly turned into a raging sea of fans as he alighted from his Merc and made his way to the middle.
Ground staff ran hither and thither. Girls rehearsing for the mass dance squealed. Youngsters on the outer periphery did spot jumps for a glimpse of the man, in ash sweatshirt and a red scarf hanging loosely around his neck.
Antara Biswas, a 21-year-old bank employee, stumbled on some props while lunging to shake Shah Rukh's hand as he walked through the swarm. Flaunting the picture she had just taken with her mobile phone, Antara said her objective of signing up as "a pom-pom girl" had been fulfilled already. "I don't mind if they don't pay us now," trilled her friend Koninika De.
Calm as ever after reaching the safety of secured area, Shah Rukh stood talking to Mohammed Morani of Cineyug, which is helping his Red Chillies Entertainment put together Tuesday's show. Camera phones continued to go click-click everywhere.
Welcome to IPL-6, Calcutta!
Around 1am on Monday, choreographer Geeta Kapoor, in charge of the Indian segment of the opening gala, had worried about her rehearsal schedule going haywire. "He (SRK) hasn't got into the flight yet. It would be too late when he reaches," she had sighed, turning her attention to the girls in the diya act swaying to Aguner poroshmoni.
Around 17 hours later, after the gatecrashers had been shooed away and the security tightened, SRK went backstage, only to re-emerge for a bit to meet Rajeev Shukla, the BCCI vice-president.
Usha Uthup then took the stage to belt out Oorie oorie baba and before she could finish, Bappi Lahiri had joined in.
The champion team's 12th Knight finally took the stage at midnight, rocking it with numbers like Chammak challo and Yeh kaali kaali aankhen.
Less than 24 hours ago, SRK had been expected to check into Hyatt Regency's Presidential Suite. The star Bypass address had even kept the aarti thali ready for him but King Khan's car passed Hyatt by and headed for ITC Sonar, where wife Gauri had checked in with daughter Suhana after arriving from Bangkok a little earlier.
Shah Rukh stayed put at ITC Sonar through the afternoon. Around 4pm, he ordered chicken tikka sandwiches and kebabs from Hyatt, which were delivered at Salt Lake stadium next door. It is not clear whether he had ordered them for himself or his guests.
Restaurateur Anjan Chatterjee, whose Speciality Restaurants is the Kolkata Knight Riders' hospitality partner, said the brief was to provide "light, nutritious and well-balanced" food to Shah Rukh and his Knights.
Leading ladies Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone, who will perform with SRK on Tuesday, were expected to check into either Hyatt or ITC Sonar late on Monday. Katrina has a Regency Diplomatic Suite at Hyatt (a shade below SRK's Presidential Suite in the pecking order) booked in her name. For Deepika, it will be the Executive Suite (the next best after Kat's Regency), if she stays there.
But the hotel is sure of one guest: Mr 305, a.k.a. Pitbull. The rapper's 15-member crew checked into Hyatt on Monday evening and another lot is expected later, depending on the flight Pitbull takes. Pitbull will put up in the Regency Diplomatic Suite. Just like Katrina. Just above Deepika. Just below SRK.
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