Thaindian News

By Shilpa Raina
Colombo, June 4 (IANS) Blame it on the timing, the weather or other factors, but very few Bollywood actresses turned up for a charity cricket match played as part of the ongoing International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards here Friday.

Bipasha Basu, Dia Mirza, Sophie Chaudhary and Mandira Bedi provided some oomph factor to the event by appearing in short outfits in neutral colours, but others like Lara Dutta, Kangana Ranaut, Jacqueline Fernandez, Malaika Arora Khan, Suzzane Khan and Riya Sen gave it a miss.

The male actors preferred torn jeans and smart t-shirts over flashy garments for the event.

The match was scheduled for a sultry afternoon and the clouds played hide and seek with a whiff of breeze giving relief to the audience who were cheering for the players.

The outcome of the match played between the Sri Lankan cricket team and two Bollywood teams lead by Suniel Shetty and Hrithik Roshan respectively was didn’t really matter - the latter lost both games - but the spirit of the actors on the ground was pretty high.

Actors like Sonu Sood, Harman Baweja, Jacky Bhagnani, Dino Morea took to the field, while others like Neil Nitin Mukesh, Aftab Shivdasani, Vivek Oberoi, Anil Kapoor, Luv Sinha cheered them up.

The money raised through the match - figures were not immediately given - will go to a charity organisation and the Bollywood stars felt this is a good ways of connecting with the people.

“Organising charity matches like these is a great initiative. It’s fun to do something which is different. It brings out the qualities of true sportsmanship. Win or loss is just a term. We are here to support a cause and not fight against each other,” Morea told IANS before the start of the match.