IPL 8 opening ceremony: Shahid Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and Farhan Akhtar were the stars of the big mess. (Source: PTI)

The Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata was all set to witness a spectacle before rain arrived and washed away all the hopes and expectations of the who’s and who at India’s football mecca. Talks of the ceremony being larger than life remained mere Chinese whispers as the event unfolded into a grand mess.

From Saif Ali Khan’s awkward pauses to Shahid Kapoor’s uneasiness on the platform, the IPL 8 opening ceremony was no where close to a watchable event. The trips, slips, collisions and stammers tested the patience of the audience glued to TV sets and the ones braving the rain in the City of Joy.

Here’s what went wrong, mess by mess:

The awkward Saif: The actor was a fair distance away from the comfort zone he has enjoyed while hosting events, read Filmfare. Even during the pre-event interview, Saif was a bundle of nerves. Some defend his act saying the teleprompter kept moving and affected smooth play in the middle. Even if the teleprompter moved, aren’t actors trained to improvise?

BCCI : Saif, will you host the #IPLOpeningCeremony ? Saif : Bade araam se !

— The-Lying-Lama (@KyaUkhaadLega) April 7, 2015

Was Saif’s act the worst ever on live television? ‘Bade Aaram Se.’ Well, the pun is intended.

Slippery Shahid: Can’t blame Bollywood’s chocolate boy for slippery conditions but definitely for not showing awareness. Even the cricketers are advised to see off the first couple of balls on a sticky wicket but Shahid went the other Shahid, read Afridi, way from ball one.

He first banged his bike into the dance crew and then recovered from a terrible slip early into his act. It took him a while to recover from the early hiccups and by the time he was back in his elements, the performance was over.

Farhan, stop singing: A cool bandana, expensive equipment and flashy lights can’t guarantee success. Farhan and his ‘Farhan Live’ screamed their lungs out but failed to strike a chord. He jumped, he screamed, he didn’t slip but failed to impress one bit. A ‘Havan Karenge’ act would have been much better than Bollywood’s rockstar failing miserably to ape one. Get over the movie dude, we know you are much better than what you did on Tuesday.

Class apart: Both Anushka Sharma and Hrithik Roshan saved the organisers the blushes with some entertaining and assured performances towards the fag end.

But, Saif had other ideas and ended the ceremony with another messy note.