News Snippets

1. Vijay is Out: With the enormous success of IPL last season, most of the franchises have decided to do away with the film stars. Chennai Super Kings are also a part of that trend and have decided to do away with Kollywood (Chennai Film Industry) brand ambassadors. I believe the economic crisis also had a role to play in that decision. Anyway, Srikkanth would be the only Brand Ambassador for Chennai Super Kings hereafter. [Source: Economic Times]
2. Hayden is in: In the four matches that Hayden played last year, he proved that he is worth every single dollar CSK paid him. With his retirement from his illustrious international career, he is going to be there for the entire season this year. A Happy News for the entire CSK family. [Source: Hindu]

More Brand Ambassadors for Chennai Super Kings

Immediately after Nayanthara was sacked from her role as brand ambassador, rumours about her replacement started to fly around. Indiaglitz reported that it was going to be Trisha. But Gurunath Meiyappan quashed all these rumours today. Not one but two celebrities are going to replace Nayantara.

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Upcoming actor Arya and Super Star Rajinikanth's daughter Soundarya have offered their services for Chennai Super Kings. While Arya's role(daredevil stunts) in the forthcoming matches involving CSK has been informed, Soundarya's role has been kept secret. But I am expecting Soundarya. who is known for her graphic designing skills, to come up with a promotional animation for the team.

Thanks to the immense support for Chennai Super Kings in Tamil Nadu and team's great performance on the field, an association with Chennai Super Kings gives immense publicity for the individual. So Tamil film stars are queuing up to endorse Chennai Super Kings. Anyway, Arya and Soundarya Rajinikanth! Welcome on board.

 News Source: Economic Times

Chennai Super Kings and Nayanthara part ways

Today's press release from Chennai Super Kings had a shocking news for the fans of Nayanthara. Much to their surprise, they learnt that Chennai Super Kings has sacked Nayanthara.

Reason for Firing

Gurunath Meiyappan (AVM), the son-in-law of India Cements MD told

“As Nayanthara is unable to meet the commitments of regular match appearances, the team has now decided to go with a single star ambassador and from now Mr Vijay will be the sole brand ambassador for CSK. We are planning to shoot the promotional video with Vijay and Dhoni this week”.

Gurunath also added that when Nayanthara signed the contract it was made clear that she should make an appearance in all the seven CSK matches which were to be held in Chennai. But she did not honour her commitment, and so her contract was being terminated.

Nayanthara Shocked:

  Nayanthara, in her interview to Sify, says that she is yet to recover from that shock. But she affirms that

Whether I am the star ambassador or not, I love cricket and I am a firm believer in the sportsman spirit. Chennai has given me everything in life and CSK is my team. I will cheer for them and wish Dhoni and his boys all the best.

My Take:

Nayanthara may have broken the contract by not attending the first match due to her sickness. Her presence may not be needed now since the Chennai crowd is already behind the team. But Nayanthara surely adds a glamour quotient and would be a huge asset to the team. So CSK management, Please don't terminate her contract.

Rajiv Menon to direct Chennai Super Kings' Anthem

If this source is to be believed, Ace cinematographer-cum-film maker Rajiv Menon is going to direct the music video/anthem for Chennai Super Kings. Rajiv, responsible for the success for  several commercials, is taking every effort to make this video stand out from the rest. Both Vijay and Nayanthara are expected to shake their legs for the video.

 

According to insiders, the video is expected to be ready within the first week of April. A segment of the video, featuring  a bunch of youngsters and top players from the Chennai team, was recently shot at AVM studios. [To know about AVM's connection with Chennai Super Kings, read here]

India Cements Ltd's Kollywood Connections

When India Cements Ltd announced that Vijay and Nayanthara are going to be the star ambassadors for Chennai Super Kings, I was hugely surprised by the swiftness, with which India Cements Limited was able to sign two of Kollywood's hottest stars. While some fans talked about huge sums of money exchanging hands, it was a mystery to me. So I did a little big of digging(googling).

Srinivasan's Connection with Vijay and Nayantara:

It came as a surprise to me that N. Srinivasan's daughter Rupa Gurunath is married to Gurunath Meiyappan of AVM family, one of the oldest and leading film and TV serial production houses in the south[Source: ET]. Once I found this connection, everything started falling into place. Viay's next film (under AVM banner) is being produced by AVM Balasubramanian and Gurunath Meiyappan[Source: Hindu]. AVM Balasubramanian, younger brother of AVM Saravanan, is the father of Gurunath Meiyappan. I don't think I have to reveal the final piece of the puzzle - Heroine of Vijay's future film under AVM banner. None other than Nayanthara[Source: oneindia]. The final nail in my research is the confession by Nayanthara in her sify interview that Gurunath Meiyappan contacted her regarding Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings is the first endorsement done by Nayanthara and Vijay too is known for his rare endorsements. So it can be safely assumed that it was the association with cricket and India Cements Ltd's connection that resulted in the signing rather the huge sums of money. Thanks to Gurunath Meiyappan's connections, Chennai Super Kings is able to employ various Kollywood stars and artists for Chennai Super Kings.

Gurunath Meiyappan on the left

Nayantara Expresses Support for CSK

On March 18, India Cements Ltd formally introduced Vijay and Nayanthara as Star Brand Ambassadors for Chennai Super Kings. Though Vijay was present in the inaugural function, Nayanthara was conspicuous by her absence. But Nayanthara has made amendments to her absence through an exclusive interview to Sify.com, in which she expresses her support for Chennai Super Kings.

 

From Nayanthara's Interview"

• She has never watched cricket live in a stadium
• Her favourite player is Sachin Tendulkar, though she likes Dhoni's attitude and captaincy. She is all excited to meet Sreesanth, a fellow Keralite.
• She has promised to show up at all the matches featuring Chennai Super Kings.

P.S: With Nayantara promising to be present in all the cricket matches, don't be surprised to hear rumours connecting Nayantara with Chennai Super Kings' players.

Nayanthara joins Chennai Super Kings as Star Ambassador

With the recent signing of Vijay and Nayantara as Star Ambassadors of Chennai Super Kings, the management team of CSK shows their intent of making Indian Premier League a huge success in Tamil Nadu. Similar to Vijay's signing, Chennai Super Kings showed that the management and the fans think alike with regard to glamour quotient of Chennai Super Kings too.

In a poll run on this blog for 'Cheerleader of Chennai Super kings', Nayantara and Shriya Saran were the hot favorites and were leading the poll with 21% of total votes. And Chennai Super Kings management seems to have heard this.

Anyway! India Cements Limited pulled a coup by signing two of Tamil Nadu's hottest stars to endorse Chennai Super Kings. Chak De Chennai Super Kings!

Vijay joins Chennai Super Kings as its Star Ambassador

Vijay is one of my favorite Tamil actors. Chennai Super Kings is my favorite IPL team. So the new relationship between them is the greatest news i have heard from the management team of Chennai Super Kings. It made me happier than the $ 1.5 Million purchase of Dhoni [though Chennai Super Kings had more than 10 reasons to do so]

But not all seem to share my happiness. Chennai Online, on its editorial, has chided Chennai Super Kings for the disgrace it brought by bonding up with two Kollywood heartthrobs. They say bringing in Vijay shows the total lack of confidence. But their only valid point is that - 'With Dhoni being India's biggest ambassador, What is the need for another ambassador?'

But Dhoni being India's Brand ambassador(Generic) could not pep up the Tamil(Specific) crowds, especially Chennai-sts, while Vijay could do that. If supporting the team is based on the cricketer's brand, most of us would be supporting Mumbai Indians, since we all prefer Sachin over others. So the support base of Chennai Super Kings has to built on something else. By bringing on Vijay, Chennai Super Kings could assure Tamil people that they will always belong to the soil. Also Vijay provides Chennai Super Kings to come up with exciting promotions and advertisements that could create a buzz for Chennai Super Kings. Remember, even Chennai Super Stars of Indian Cricket League used a look-alike of Vijay for their promotion.

Also Vijay could create that initial craze for Chennai Super Kings which is essential for the success of the concept of Indian Premier League. With Vijay on board, Chennai Super Kings promises to bring on great entertainment for its fans.