Bollywood stars Hrithik Roshan, Shahid Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Saif Ali Khan, Farhan Akhtar and Pritam at the opening ceremony of IPL 2015Ron Gaunt / SPORTZPICS / IPL 
Shahid Kapoor Performs at the IPL 2015 Opening CeremonyRon Gaunt / SPORTZPICS / IPL 
Hrithik Roshan Performs at the IPL 2015 Opening CeremonyRon Gaunt / SPORTZPICS / IPL 
Farhan Akhtar performs live with his band 'Farhan Live' at the IPL 2015 Opening CeremonyRon Gaunt / SPORTZPICS / IPL 
Shahid Kapoor arrives on stage at the IPL 2015 Opening CeremonyInstagram 
Hrithik Roshan Performs at the IPL 2015 Opening CeremonyRon Gaunt / SPORTZPICS / IPL 
Hritik and Anushka Sharma during the IPL 2015 Opening CeremonyRon Gaunt / SPORTZPICS / IPL 
Hrithik Roshan Performs at the IPL 2015 Opening CeremonyRon Gaunt / SPORTZPICS / IPL 
Hrithik Roshan Performs at the IPL 2015 Opening CeremonyRon Gaunt / SPORTZPICS / IPL 
Artists Performing during the IPL 2015 Opening Ceremony held at the Salt Lake Stadium in KolkataDeepak Malik / SPORTZPICS / IPL 
Hrithik Roshan makes a grand entry at the IPL 2015 Opening CeremonyTwitter/@IPL 
Hrithik Roshan arrives on stage at the IPL 2015 Opening CeremonyTwitter/@IPL 
Farhan Akhtar is on stage with his band "Farhan Live" at the IPL 2015 Opening CeremonyTwitter/@IPL 
Anushka Sharma looks gorgeous as she dances on "PK" and "Jab Tak Hai Jaan" numbers at the IPL 2015 opening ceremony.Twitter/@IPL 
Captains Gautam Gambhir, George Bailey, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Shane Watson, David Warner, Virat Kohli and JP Duminy on stage with IPL trophyTwitter/@IPL 
Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan rehearsing for IPL 2015 opening ceremonyTwitter 
Hrithik Roshan will be one of the marquee performers at the IPL 2015 Opening CeremonyReuters
The star studded IPL 2015 opening ceremony ended with Hrithik's performance. IPL 2015 is officially open now.
10:22 pm: Bollywood heartthrob Hrithik Roshan is greeted with cheer from spectators. "Bang Bang" actor steals the show with his energetic performance. Hrithik thanks Kolkata and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for all the love.
After his energetic performance, Shahid Kapoor took to Twitter to thank Kolkata for the overwhelming love.
"Had a blast at the ipl opening ceremony . Kolkata thank you for the overwhelming love," Shahid tweeted.
For more photos click here.
Crowd go wild with #HrithikRoshan on stage #IPLOpeningCeremony #IPL2015 #IPL8 pic.twitter.com/702ZNw8isM
— Lycaradio (@LycaRadio1458) April 7, 2015Hrithik Roshan performs on a medley of songs at the #IPL8 opening ceremony #IPL2015 (1/3) (TV grabs) pic.twitter.com/oNbXxUcTNZ
— Khaleej Times (@khaleejtimes) April 7, 201509:59 pm: Actor-director Farhan Akhtar is on stage with his band "Farhan Live"
Now! @FarOutAkhtar on the Stage at #IPLOpeningCeremony #IPL2015 in #Kolkata #RockStar
#KnightsAtOpeningNite pic.twitter.com/pkz2zdp1LN
— ♡ SRK RUSSIAN FC ♡ (@SRKFC_Russia) April 7, 201509:45 pm: Loud cheer for Anushka Sharma as she arrives on stage; "NH10" actress enthrals audience with her amazing performance. Anushka looks grogeous as she dances on "PK", "Ladies vs Ricky Bahl" and "Jab Tak Hai Jaan" numbers.
Camera caught cricketer Virat Kohli's reaction as his girlfriend Anushka's performances on stage
She's here! @AnushkaSharma #IPL2015 pic.twitter.com/rknz4lEd5x
— EsHan MaRlOn FeRnanD (@emarlonf) April 7, 201509:40 pm: Past winners of IPL remembered
09:30 pm: "Haider" actor delivers an electric performance.
09:26 pm: Shahid Kapoor rides a bike onto the stage. "Kemonacho Kolkata. Are you ready for IPL 2015," said Shahid.
@shahidkapoor crowd puller #IPL2015 it's all #orange for #ShahidKapoor #IPLOpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/TNxezYayvK
— Lycaradio (@LycaRadio1458) April 7, 2015PIC - @shahidkapoor's #IPL2015 avatar : Shaandaar Performance Of Shahid In IPL pic.twitter.com/v5fnyvopmn
— Shahid Kapoor FC (@shahidkapoorFC) April 7, 201509:25 pm: Captains take the MCC Spirit of Cricket pledge
Amazing atmosphere at Salt Lake Stadium. Captains signed the MCC Spirit of Cricket bat. Shahid Kapoor rode a bike, then danced #PepsiIPL
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 7, 201509:15 pm: Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir arrives with the IPL trophy and keeps it in the center of the stage
09:10 pm: All eight captains – Gautam Gambhir, George Bailey, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Shane Watson, David Warner, Virat Kohli and JP Duminy - arrive on stage. Salt Lake stadium gives a loud welcome to all the captains
The captains of all the 8 teams posing with the #PepsiIPL trophy.
Great moment.
#IPLOpeningCeremony #IndiaKaTyohaar pic.twitter.com/ChEszSylPd
— AkShAtA (@MenInBlueDvotee) April 7, 2015#IPLOpeningCeremony #IPL2015 on @SonyMAX #KKR #Go4More #KorboLorboJeetbo! Captains of all the teams opening ceremony pic.twitter.com/N4mjCEiN2x
— ♡ SRK RUSSIAN FC ♡ (@SRKFC_Russia) April 7, 201509:05 pm: Music director Pritam starts the event with a Rabindra Sangeet "Anandaloke mangalaloke"; Host Saif Ali Khan arrives on stage
08:40 pm: Opening Ceremony to begin soon as rain has stopped in Kolkata
Good news, folks. The rain has cleared off. #PepsiIPL #OpeningNite is set to kick off. pic.twitter.com/tyOlNSxAzF
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 7, 2015Right. The rain has stopped in Kolkata. We will be back with the next update at 21:00 IST. #PepsiIPL #OpeningNite
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 7, 2015Meanwhile, like others even Anushka Sharma wants rain to stop.
"All set for IPL opening night Now fingers crossed for it to stop raining for the hoardes of people that have turned up for the show," she tweeted.
08:00 pm: Opening ceremony has been delayed further as it's still raining in Kolkata
Guys, it's still raining in Kolkata. Next update at 20:30 IST. #PepsiIPL #OpeningNite pic.twitter.com/4RM1uyLU7j
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 7, 2015
07:55 pm: Farhan Akhtar, who is going to perform live with his band, urges fans to have patience.
"We are all as anxious to get this event started. One can't do anything against nature but our fingers are crossed," the actor said.
07:40 pm: The ceremony will kick start after 08:00 pm, according to the official Twitter handle of IPL.
It is pouring down in Kolkata. The Pepsi IPL #OpeningNite has been delayed for a while. The next update will be out at 20:00 IST. Stay tuned
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 7, 2015
07:00 pm: The opening ceremony has been delayed due to the thundershowers in Kolkata, according to reports.
Here is the latest picture from the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata. #PepsiIPL #OpeningNite pic.twitter.com/gAoVKMwhvs
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 7, 2015
Stay tuned for the live updates of the opening ceremony of IPL 2015.
Highlights of the opening ceremony
The star studded opening ceremony of the eight season of the Indian Premiere League (IPL) will kick start in a few hours. Music director Pritam with his band and Bollywood actors Hrithik Roshan, Anushka Sharma, Shahid Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar with his band will perform live at the opening ceremony of IPL 8.
The two hour long opening ceremony will be hosted by actor Saif Ali Khan at Kolkata's Salt Lake Stadium.
Captains of all the eight teams will take the MCC Spirit of Cricket pledge.
Gautam Gambhir, captain of the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders, will signal the start of the eight season of the IPL by placing the trophy in play.
