After injuring his eye years ago, the director attended an IPL match for his Billoo Barber star’s sake

Eye love cricket: Priyadarshan

People who attended the IPL Knight Riders’ first match in Kolkata were surprised to see director Priyadarshan sitting quietly in the audience.

"Even I was surprised to see myself there,” says Priyan. The South director almost lost his eye at a cricket match years ago, and has stayed away since.
Ain’t unlucky
The director speaks from the sets of his Shah Rukh Khan-Irrfan Khan starrer Billo Barber, “I went for Shah Rukh’s sake. Fortunately, the Knight Riders won the match that day when I was in Kolkata. Or people would’ve said I’m unlucky for Shah Rukh. Can’t afford that image while I’ve cast him in the most unusual role of his career, and that too, after four failed attempts to work with him.”
Recalling his passion for cricket, Priyan says, “I was a mad obsessive cricket player as a student. Then during one local match, I nearly lost my eye.” Recalling the harrowing incident Priyan shudders, “I can never forget that day. The ball just slammed against my eye. I had a hairline fracture. And I couldn’t see. I thought I had lost my eye. Fortunately, the eye is intact. But the nerves on the eyelid were enfeebled. So one eye is half closed all the time.”
No time for anything else

Priyan’s passion for the game continues, “I love cricket. Thankfully, I didn’t make a career out of it.

Otherwise today I’d have been working in a bank. The only reason why I don’t play is because I’m making films round the clock. There’s no time for anything else.”

Producr-director Karan Johar has really been busy of late. Just back from Miami for his under-production film 'Dostana', starring John Abraham, Abhishek Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra, which is being directed by his assistant Tarun Mansukhani, Karan is now engrossed with his next production and directorial venture starring best friend Shah Rukh Khan.
Despite so much on his mind, Karan took time off for his friend Shah Rukh Khan. Last Friday, he was spotted enjoying a game of cricket between King Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders and Bangalore’s Royal Challengers.

Karan made it a point to go all the way to Bangalore to support Shah Rukh’s team, though cricket is not one of his interests.

Throw away those knee-guards and discard those thigh-pads, because cricket gear just got re-vamped! Imagine Sourav Ganguly, captain of SRK’s Team Calcutta in the upcoming cricket series, wearing not a usual cricket helmet, but a glittering, dazzling one, courtesy the Gitanjali Group. Mehul Choksi, Chairman, Gitanjali Group, has joined hands with SRK to support the multi-billion dollar cricket extravaganza. Gitanjali Lifestyle, the retail arm of the group, has under one of its sub brands Glitterati by D’damas, created a special 24-carat gold and diamond-encrusted helmet-shaped trophy that shall be presented to the man of the match. A replica of the same in gold and encrusted with 1,500 diamonds shall be auctioned at a charity event later.