the not so reviewed aspect of IPL

Since today is the last day of the IPL 2009, I thought to myself, why not make this post IPL centric too? Now is IPL synonymous with T20 cricket solely? Not quite. It is indeed more than just hard hitting cover drives, super quick staright drives, and those meaty pull shots. It is in fact, as they called it last year, 'manaranjan ka baap', fraught with Bollywood masala, glam cheerleaders, and breath taking revelations (remember the FIP's blog?).

Here's one side of the DLF IPL that didn't quite go unnoticed but nevertheless, did not invoke critical review from the experts. What I'm referring to are the team anthems and their videos. That is that which shall make the contents for this post. How about a gradual countdown ie the worst to the best? game? here we go...

• 8 - I watched all the eight team promos, and the worst had to be that of the Royal Challengers Bangalore. It starts off with a pretty nice intro, but the song beginning bears an uncanny resemblance to the Johnny Gaddar title track. Another downside is that it first shows the jersey of Zaheer Khan, who though a part of the playing XI last year, is now with the Mumbai Indians this year, something they should have changed for this season. The video stars big boss Mallya himself, and Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif (not the best combo perhaps). The song turns out to be terribly boring too, and so does the video. This just can't be the video or the song to actually boost the morale of a team that finished in position 7 last season! However they have done quite well this year, having reached the finals, but that, I guess should be attributed to other factors. Rating 2/10

• Coming in at a really close 7 to keep RCB company is a joint Mumbai Indians and the Delhi Daredevils. While the MI video starts in a rather stereotype manner, the song turns out to be terrifyingly sleepy and lacks every iota of josh. Slightly better than the RCB are the cinematics. It's a tad too long too. On the other hand the DD promo starts with terribly outdated lines "Delhi Daredevils, We never give up", and all the video shows are faces of Glenn McGrath, and Daniel Vettori turning to face the camera at least ten times. The song that  starts from then on is pretty nice, and brings the DD in line with the MI with a rather meagre 3/10.

• 5 is when the stuff get really nice. OK if not really, then quite nice. So here I decided to put in the Chennai Superkings. Their song is very well made. The lyrics are not out of the ordinary but the rap concept is pretty nicely implemented. "We are the Chen-nai Chen-nai-Super-kings" invokes quite an amount of laughter. Seeing MS Dhoni rap is a rather rewarding experience indeed. What also catches the eye is the cool transformation of Dhoni's face into a lion's at the end. Rating 6/10.

• 4 and things are getting really heated up!!! In comes the Deccan Chargers. Their video is rather boring, but what actually enervates you is the extremely charging up song. "Go Chargers, Go Chargers, Go Chargers Go!!!" not only enthuses the players on the field but also intimidates the opposition to a large extent. The song is pretty loud, and the tune really nice. Good for a 7/10.

• 3 and it's the Rajasthan Royals. The cinematics in this one are pretty cool, but the best part's got to be the "Halla Bol" song. It's the best team anthem hands down. A little more work on the video could have earned them position 1 indeed. The song enervates, enthuses, and is a hell lot of a fun. The video isn't that bad in fact. It stars Shilpa Shetty, and shows a really nice item number.Plus these chaps can boast showing them winning the cup last year ... a scene none of the others can show Rating 7.5/10.

• Now it's getting rather hot isn't it? 2 ... who could it be? Only two teams are left .... and it's Preity Zinta vs the king Khan. So this goes to ... the Kings XI Punjab. The video is really, reeeaallly nice, and shows the least amount of cricket as compared to all the others. What it shows are glimpses from Punjab, and how they show it makes all the difference, putting them up in no 2. The Punjabi kid plays an adorable role, and the one glimpse of Yuvraj Singh, hitting one out of the ground, follwed by Priety Zinta's leap into the air is shown very well. Also the Bhangra number is amazing and gives a suitable backdrop to this great promo. Rating 7.8/10.

• It had to be it, hands down. Not because I'm from Kolkata, not because I'm an avid SRK fan, but the fact remains that the Kolkata Knight Riders promo is one heck of a promo. It's simply phenomenal ... period. It does everything terribly well. The African back drop is just scintillating, and King Khan's acting ... well he is the best in the business! The song has been modified a bit, specially the intro, but it's all clear that no other team can come even a mile close to this. I wish I could give more but ... 10/10.

visit the DLF IPL website to view these videos. Click here.