Sitare Zameen Par - Ganesh, Amarnath, Kirmani in Moodubidri
Report and Pics Shekhar Ajekar
for Daijiworld Media Network - Moodbidri (GA)
Moodbidri, Mar 7: Golden Star Ganesh of Mungaru Male has been hitting news headlines these days, albeit his recently-released 'Galipata' failing to match the pre-release hype. While his marriage has been the talk of the state, series of events that followed and a number gossips surrounding his wedding has not helped his reputation much either. Despite all this, he still remains to be the heart-throb of lacs of cine buffs, specially the young ones.
Mohindar Amarnath and Syed Kirman have not only cricket in common but they have some die-hard fans in common too. While the former made his name in cricket history in front of the wickets, the latter has carved a niche for himself behind the stumps.
Imagine all three of them sharing a single stage on a given day. Police will surely have tough time controlling the sea of people who would throng to watch them. This was quite true on Friday March 7 evening. Ganesh, Amarnath and Kirmani accompanied by another sandalwood star Ramkumar (best known for his role in Gejjenada) were here in the city on Friday March 7. So it is needless to say that their fans made a beeline to steal a glimpse of their stars. It was as if all roads were turned towards Moodbidri.
It was the inaugural function of 'Champion's Trophy', an 8-over floodlit over-arm cricket match at Thodar. The three-day tournament is being organized from Friday March 7 to Sunday March 9 by Souharda Vedike Thodar at the Thodar Bangabettu highschool grounds.
For Ganesh it was sor of a homecoming (his better half hails from undivided district of Dakshina Kannada) while Syed Kirmani had been to Mangalore not long ago. However, fans of Ganesh were disappointed when they saw that he was not accompanied by his wife Shilpa.
Earlier the foursome had been to former minister Amarnath Shetty's house where they were joined by ZP president Sucharita Shetty. Later they came to Inspection Bunglow from where they were taken on Thodar on an open jeep which was surrounded by their fans. It was for the first time that Ganesh had participated in a public ceremony in the coastal area after his marriage. All along the four and half kilometre stretch, fans were seen trying to get as close as possible to the open jeep and get a close glimpse of their favourite stars.
At Thodar women clad in uniform sarees were ready to welcome the heavyweights with as per the local tradition. The inaugural ceremony was presided over by Amarnath Shetty. The tournament has a total prize of Rs 80,000 wherein the winner will get a fat cheque of Rs 50,000 along with trophy, while the runners-up will be richer by Rs 30,000.