Ranbir Kapoor scored five goals against MPs in a one-sided charity football match till Baba Ramdev lent some counterweight. By Ganita
In the end, it wasn’t clear who overtook whom. Did the brand swamp the celebrity or did the celebrity tow the brandIJ What everybody remembered was the ubiquitous Baba Ramdev doing his thing, running away with the show as usual against the backdrop of his company’s promotionals. In this case, showing he was quite the mean machine who knew how to play ball. Powered by his herbal supplements, he sure did fool the MPs, who were pitted against Bollywood celebrities in a charity game of football.
The audience, of course, was most excited about watching actor Ranbir Kapoor make some deft moves along with his soccer club chums from the industry. Captain Abhishek Bachchan stayed off the field, rather desultorily roaming around in blue jeans and a black-red zipper during the first half of the match. He only advised Ranbir in between, who helmed the team spirit, scoring five goals himself, and leading his team to a big win against the MPs with the final scoreline settling at 10-0. Actor Dino Morea (2) and TV actors Sachin Joshi (1), Karan Wahi (1) and Shabir Ahluwalia (1) pitched in ably. Ranbir was his usual affable self, fraternising with fellow sporstmen, so what if they were from the unfancied world of TV. He ruled the match while other players fell off passively, disappointing eager fans.
The friendly match, christened as Football ka muqabla, was organised by the Adhunik Art Gallery, in support of the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign. Though the parliamentarians comprised heavyweights like Babul Supriyo, Manoj Tiwari, Parvesh Sahib Singh, Sanjeev Balyan, Pushpendra Singh Chandel, Satish Gautam, Bhola Singh, Rammohan Naidu, Ramcharitra Nishad, Rajesh Diwakar and K. P. Singh, they quickly ran out of steam. As the audience deplored the “class VIII” standard of play, it was left to Manoj Tiwari to rescue some pride. But by the second half, the MPs were seen ambling and stretching out their limbs, clearly bottoming out on stamina. And the crowd began streaming out.
It was then that Baba Ramdev stepped into the shoes of the parlimentarian team, showing off his kicks and dribbling skills for around ten minutes before going back to his seat. The ticket buyer had got his value.
The empty seats were more than made up by a flurry of chief guests, promoters of a herbal brand and organisers. Seen and heard were Central Ministers Maneka Gandhi, Vijay Goel and Meenakshi lekhi.
“We are grateful to both the teams and the distinguished guests for their motivation and cooperation that made this great football match a grand success. Through this match, we are supporting Swachch Bharat and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao. We want to fulfill the dream of our Prime Minister and will keep organising such events to spread awareness,” said 26-year-old Bhasker Prakash, the organiser.