Shahrukh Khan is said to have cut the cost of tickets to Rs 100, which will be available apart from the Rs 220, Rs 335, and Rs 665 tickets.

Ticket sales for the Knight Riders versus Deccan Chargers match will open on April 15, 2008.

Kolkata Knight Riders Sport expect great demand for the Knight Rider matches. Meanwhile, Indian ex-Captain Saurav Ganguly is back in Kolkata after the 3-match test series versus South Africa. Saurav will take part in the Kolkata Knight Riders’ practice match on April 15, 2008.

IPL launch ceremony to be a visual extravaganza

IPL’s inaugural ceremony will be held in Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy stadium where SRK’s Kolkata Knight Riders will play their first match with Dr.Vijay Mallya’s Bangalore Royal Challengers. Representing the star power at the match, will be SRK’s close friends Farah Khan, Karan Johar, Juhi Chawla, and Arjun Rampal.

The inaugural ceremony will include a visually opulent show. The show, modeled on international lines, will have aerial acrobatics, pyrotechnics, and bubble dancers spinning in eight giant transparent bubbles in the colors of the eight teams. Acrobats and dancers have been hired from US, UK, and Europe, for the show.

The Washington Redskins, current world champion cheerleading squad of the American National Football League, will be flown down for the show. The launch show will also have a Spirit of Cricket segment that will have the eight captains come together in solidarity.

This segment will be followed by a laser show. A spectacular fireworks display has also been planned for the end of the show. Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy will perform at the event. Star performers will include Katrina Kaif, Zayed Khan, Shilpa Shetty, Upendra, and Ramya.

Titled ‘Manoranjan Ka Baap’, the 75-second commercial is a tribute to the high-on-entertainment movies of the 80s and pitches IPL as the ultimate destination for TV entertainment. The commercial amplifies the expression ‘the Baap of all Entertainment’. The film revolves around a mother and her twin fatherless sons named Mano and Ranjan – . The family is constantly victimised and subjected to barbs by the entire village. Kab aayega tumhara baap? (When will your father come?) is a never-ending taunt. The twins keep retaliating that their father will definitely return one day. The narration builds to a climax with the woe-ridden woman contemplating ending her life and that is when the miracle occurs. Her children stop her just in time by screaming that their father has arrived. Cut to children dancing deliriously and kissing the TV set and the voice over announcing “Aagaya Manoranjan Ka Baap. DLF Indian Premier League. Sirf MAX par”

According to T Gangadhar, Vice President and Head of Marketing, MAX, “From a broadcast strategy perspective, the challenge was to find a unifier that binds the entire country – a lowest common denominator that is compelling enough to take on existing TV viewing habits. And that glue can only be our insatiable passion for wholesome entertainment. This is precisely why the DLF IPL broadcast has been positioned as the definitive and ultimate entertainment destination for those 44 days when the League is in progress.”

The film has been directed by Rajesh Krishnan of Soda Films. The campaign will be aired extensively on television – on SET Network channels as well as other General Entertainment, News, Music and Regional channels across India. The campaign will also run on Radio, Cinema, Outdoor and on the Internet. Max will also promote DLF IPL in 150 towns through on-ground activities.

The Indian Premier League will be telecast in North America, Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean by Willow TV who have acquired the rights for television, radio, broadband and internet.
SET and World Sports Group (WSG) won the IPL broadcast rights for $1.03 billion. Sony will telecast IPL matches in the Indian sub-continent and WSG will explore the international market.

The DLF IPL premier league’s associate sponsors are Pepsico India , Hyundai and Nokia, as Sony Entertainment Television aims to rake in1.7 billion rupees from the deal, media reports said.

Sony is also in talks with various corporates including ICICI, UB , Future Group, ITC , TVS and Hero Honda, hoping to rope in at least one more premier sponsor and six associate ones.

Sony and World Sports Group won the television rights by paying about 41 billion rupees, with Sony getting rights for Indian sub continent and the rest of the world going to World Sports Group.

The IPL begins on April 18 and will be held with a view on prime time television audience in India.