Soon, filmstars will have their own T20 league

Salman Khan versus Surya, Nagarjuna against Sudeep… Not box office clashes, T20 cricket matches. Starting January 8, 2011, the stars will pull crowds to cricket grounds. And there sure will be bouncers, beamers (unintended ones for sure), half-volleys, wides, no-balls and sixers galore in the fully filmy version of Twenty20 cricket.

Actors from Bollywood, Tollywood (Telugu), Kollywood (Tamil) and Sandalwood (Kannada) have confirmed their participation in the Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) through their respective film artistes’ associations. Sources said Salman Khan will lead the Bollywood team, while either Chiranjeevi or Nagarjuna will lead the Telugu all-stars. Vijay and Sudeep will lead the Tamil and Kannada outfits respectively. But the biggest crowd-puller of them will be Rajinikanth, whose latest Enthiran aka Robot has smashed all box office records. The Malayalam actors’ association is likely to take its decision within the next two days.

The idea of CCL cropped from the friendly matches Telugu filmstars play every year. Since 2009, the matches have turned out to be great crowd-pullers and money-spinners, with top stars like Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna, Venkatesh and Nagarjuna leading the teams. Their TRP on live TV has almost rivalled that of the IPL.

Sudeep

It led to two Hyderabad-based companies, Rhythms and Sprint Telefilms, who have been organising cricket tournaments featuring Telugu actors since 2005, deciding to replicate the same on the T-20 format on a bigger scale.

Rhythms is owned by a close relative of a top Telugu actor, who himself is not involved in the money matters, sources said.
Initially, the tournament was designed for stars from the southern filmdoms. But a Mumbai-based production company showed interest and wanted to rope in Bollywood. A top star “who could not compete with a Shah Rukh Khan in the IPL arena” also showed interest, and a dialogue was initiated with the Hindi film artistes’ association. Sources said that the ratio of ownership between the three companies that came together to form the CCL Limited had been kept under wraps.

The two-week tournament will be spread over four cities — Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. The bidding for franchises will start on November 10. Sources said that Tamil star Surya wants to own the Kollywood team even as his arch-rival Vijay will lead it.
City may host finalThe venues for the semi-finals and the January 23 final have not yet been decided. Bangalore has been confirmed to host two matches — one between Telugu and Kannada teams and the other between Bollywood and Sandalwood. Owing to its cosmopolitan nature, it is likely to get either of the matches between Hindi Vs Tamil and Telugu Vs Malayalam. Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai will host two league matches each.

Sources said that either Mumbai or Bangalore will host the semi-finals and the final. “Bangalore has a cosmopolitan nature and will draw crowds for stars of any language, while Mumbai has a huge crowd capacity. It will be one of these two cities,” a source said.

Money matters

Salman Khan

The bidding for the title sponsorship is under way. Sources said major firms like Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and ITC are in contention. The CCL Limited will make an upfront payment to each of the participating artistes’ association.

On Monday evening, the Kannada Cine Artistes’ Association (KCAA) met and confirmed its participation. Association president Ambareesh told Bangalore Mirror, “A meeting was held with all the Kannada actors, and we have decided to participate. Sudeep will lead our team, and we are looking forward to play.”

The KCAA will get Rs 1 crore, of which Rs 65 lakh will be used for constructing the association building, and the remaining Rs 35 lakh to the actors playing for the team. Sudeep said, “We will soon decide on the team’s composition. We need to get ready for the game.”

While the Kannada and Malayalam associations will get Rs 1 crore each, the others will bag Rs 1.5 crore each. The difference is because matches involving the three other teams are expected to garner much higher revenues. “This issue has been clarified with the respective associations,” CCL sources said.

Brand ambassadorsEach side will name a 15-member squad. It is mandatory that five top actors will be there in the Playing XI. Each association will appoint two top actresses as brand ambassadors, who will have to be at the venue to watch their team play.

Rajinikanth will be the promoter of the Kollywood team. He will not play, but has confirmed to watch the matches in Bangalore and Mumbai to attract crowds.

The Tollywood team is likely to be led by Nagarjuna, who is a good cricketer. But with Chiranjeevi making a strong comeback into films, he too could be in the running. Top producers Allu Aravind, Dil Raju and KL Narayan are in the fray for owning the Telugu franchise. The successful bidder will own the team for 10 years, paying an incremental 10 per cent fee every year.