JOIN US Be a fan of football or that of Bollywood, the opening ceremony of the Indian Super League (ISL) didn’t disappoint anyone.
While the players toiled for 90 minutes on the field, there was entertainment prior to the kick-off as Bollywood stars Alia Bhatt and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan enthralled the audience with some scintillating performances during the programme hosted by another film star, Arjun Kapoor.
The 22-year-old Alia was at her energetic best as she grooved to the tunes of a few of her hit numbers including ‘Radha’ from Student of the Year and ‘Saturday Saturday’ from Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania.
The evergreen Aishwarya had the spectators in awe as she performed to the tunes from ‘Devdas’ and ‘Dhoom 2’.
Music director A R Rahman then sung the national anthem ahead of the kick-off, with Amitabh Bachchan, Rajnikanth and Sachin Tendulkar joining in to make it a memorable rendition.
Supporting his son Abhishek’s side, Chennaiyin FC, the senior Bachchan was accompanied by wife Jaya, while another regular attendee at the previous ISL games, Mukesh Ambani too was seen enjoying the game. His wife Nita is the driving force behind the ISL.