Tollywood stars at the Lake Club debate. Picture by Aranya Sen

The wellness of cricket has been a thing of concern, particularly after the IPL, with its glitz, glamour and big money. It also became the hotly-contested subject at a debate about whether “film stars are ruining cricket with their entry” at The Lake Club’s 76th anniversary celebrations on Sunday evening. The team in favour of the motion comprised police commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakrabarti; actor Biplab Chatterjee; entrepreneur and MD of Speciality Restaurants Anjan Chatterjee and writer Suchitra Bhattacharya who made digs at actors for reducing the game to a mere tamasha. Those opposing the motion were actresses Rituparna Sengupta and Satabdi Roy; cricketer Sambaran Banerjee and sports journalist Gautam Bhattacharya.

With June keeping time as the co-ordinator, the argument started with the police commissioner trying to establish how sitting through an IPL match with film stars for company was as good as watching a Gemini or Ajanta circus. “Film stars are like gymnasts and circus players who step into the ring to jump, jive and hog all the attention. They’re spoiling the spirit of the match by commercialising it,” said Chakrabarti. “We like actors and value their mass appeal. We have a lot of regard for SRK and Aamir Khan for promoting hockey and cricket and arousing national spirit through Chak De! India and Lagaan, but we respect them as actors and not cricket managers.”

This was backed by Suchitra Bhattacharya, who spoke about her belief in the traditional forms of the game. “We’re talking of cricket and its traditions. Players need discipline. Unfortunately the focus has shifted to the razzmatazz of Bollywood chart-busters, actors jumping about in their boxes and cheerleaders breaking into a jig after every over. It breaks the concentration and confuses serious cricket fans.”

Satabdi Roy tried to change the focus back to proving that actors can never destroy cricket. “We are mere actors and what is the harm if our presence can woo those who usually don’t watch cricket?” asked Satabdi.

Sambaran Banerjee spoke on behalf of IPL and lashed out at people’s failure to accept an idea that inspires young cricketers and ropes in followers through entertainment. “Junior cricketers like Wriddhiman Saha and Ranadeb Bose got a platform. Those who oppose this should concentrate on other circuses that plague the state,” said a scathing Sambaran.

Not to be put down by Rituparna referring to the other team as “hypocrites”, Biplab Chatterjee called the IPL an “auction of cricketers by actors”. Anjan Chatterjee danced down the pitch with his strong case: “We’re not against T20. Cricket is a game of skill and despite all the show and theatre, the match was won by Rajasthan Royals who did not have any celeb faces to back them. It was a victory for cricket, not the tertiary factors.”

Despite some healthy rhetoric, the audience support veered towards those against the motion, agreeing that film stars add a special something that makes cricket more entertaining than it is on its own.

Mohua Das

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