Saturday, October 3, 2009

Bollywood Stars to make a strong pitch for Games

With the countdown for Commonwealth Games 2010 having started, the organizers are trying to rope in celebrities to promote the mega event.

The star cast has been drawn by the Organizing Committee (OC) of the Games. Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif are set to be approached by the OC to promote the international event which will be held in the Capital in October next year.

Others on the list include Oscar-winning musician A R Rahman, actors Rahul Bose, Nana Patekar and John Abraham, lyricist Javed Akhtar, classical musician Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and tabla maestro Zakir Hussain.

Sports personalities — Sania Mirza, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Saina Nehwal, Vijender Kumar, Abhinav Bindra, Raghvendra Rathore, Dhanraj Pillai, Jeev Milkha Singh and Baichung Bhutia — have also been shortlisted as the likely brand ambassadors for the sporting event.

Interestingly, present day cricketers are missing from the list, but sources said former cricketers have been approached to promote the event.

Sources said that the OC has already sent letters to some of the prominent sportspersons, actors, musicians and media personalities requesting them to promote the event.

Celebrities like Nafisa Ali and Shobha De, designers Ritu Beri and Rohit Bal, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, businessman Anil Ambani, Neeta Ambani and environmentalist Dr R K Pachauri are likely to be roped in for promoting the event.

OC sources said the brand ambassadors will promote the event but will not be paid anything for doing so. They will participate in the opening and closing ceremonies in addition to promoting the event in the run-up to the Games.

Officials, however, pointed out that the list is yet to be finalized and a few more names may be added to it.

Source: http://epaper.timesofindia.com/

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