Celebrities play hockey match sans national players
CHANDIGARH: Bollywood and TV celebrities played an exhibition match at a flood-lit hockey stadium on Saturday evening – minus the Indian hockey team against which the game was originally scheduled.
Bollywood stars including Suneil Shetty, Irfaan Khan and Shavar Ali played the match against the Boxy Boys team of TV celebrities amidst an electrifying atmosphere in the stadium, where most of the stands were jam-packed with spectators.
Bollywood star Dharmendra, who is in the city for shooting a film, was also expected at the stadium. He was specially invited by the organisers as the guest of honour but could not make it because of health problems.
“Dharmendra could not come to see the match as he is not keeping good health today (Saturday),” said Sanjeev Kochhar, spokesperson of AMR Foundation, the organisers of the event.
Earlier the Indian hockey team had agreed to play against Bollywood and TV celebrities in the exhibition match. But they opted out at the eleventh hour after the organisers claimed that the players asked for a huge appearance fee of Rs 4 to Rs 5 crore for the game.