No glamour and no film stars. Much to the disappointment of Bollywood fans, the Commonwealth Games 2010 in Delhi will not have a filmy face as its brand ambassador.
Chairman of the Games Organising Committee, Suresh Kalmadi told HT City, "The face of the games won't be anyone from Bollywood. We will have 5-6 sports stars promoting the Games."Earlier, there were reports that various Bollywood stars were in contention to the brand ambassador. Actor Amitabh Bachchan was the initial choice, but was later turned down by the committee, as they wanted a younger face. Akshay Kumar's name was also doing the rounds.
At the HT-Commonwealth conclave last month, Kalmadi had said, "We shall go with a filmstar who won't charge us to be the brand ambassador."
The film fraternity seems to be fine with the organising committee's decision. "The landscape is infested with Bollywood icons. It would be a relief to see someone else play the role of a brand ambassador", says filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt. "Why should there be Bollywood brand ambassador to begin with?" asks actor Gul Panag.
Director Anurag Kashyap feels it's the right decision. "It's not a snub to the film industry if they are looking out for fresh faces," he said.
Star struck fans, however are disappointed. "It's a big event, how can we not have Bollywood stars," asks Preeti, a media student. "Only cricket stars can be a fair replacement now", says Harshita Sethi, a DU student.
