Elvish Yadav, Jannat Zubair click photos with Messi for free; Fans say SRK paid Rs 10 lakh, stood in line

Indian’s craze for international celebs and sports stars is unprecedented. Messi’s four-day tour in India was all about promoting football and why budding footballers should pursue this as a career. However, the event, which was planned across four cities, became more about politicians hovering around him and endless selfies. Many even doubted the purpose of the sports star’s visit to India, as the tour appeared chaotic in many places.

However, many reports suggest that a single selfie or a handshake with Messi came with a hefty price tag. A handshake with Lionel Messi during his GOAT India Tour 2025 reportedly cost around Rs 10 lakh.

During the Kolkata tour, it was reported that the starting price of tickets for the much-awaited Messi event, where chaos erupted early in the morning, was Rs 4,366.

Tickets for Messi’s Hyderabad leg began at Rs 2,500, Rs 4,720 for Delhi, and Rs 7,080 for Mumbai. Reports also suggest that the highest ticket was priced at Rs 16,000, while some tickets were allegedly sold for as much as Rs 10 lakh during the World Cup-winning India tour.

As per NDTV, a closed-door meet-and-greet with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Rodrigo De Paul was included in Messi’s Delhi itinerary. Access to this exclusive event reportedly came at a staggering cost of Rs 1 crore, with several corporates willing to pay the amount to meet the football legend.

Messi and his entourage stayed at The Leela Palace in Chanakyapuri. The player’s team was housed in the Presidential Suites of the hotel, which reportedly cost between Rs 3.5 lakh and Rs 7 lakh per night. As per reports, hotel staff were also strictly instructed not to share any details about La Pulga’s stay.

The fans who had already paid Rs 10 lakh received emails informing them that instead of a selfie with the star, they would get a group photo.

Amid the whopping prices for meet-and-greets and handshakes, social media influencers Elvish Yadav and Jannat Zubair posed with Messi on Monday. Elvish Yadav shared a carousel of photos on his Instagram handle, posing happily with football superstar Lionel Messi.

Needless to say, his photo garnered massive crictism with users questioning whether the image was genuine or generated using artificial intelligence. Elvish captioned the photo with Messi and Jannat Zubair, as ‘RaoSahab X Messi.’

Many users wondered whether Elvish and Jannat paid Rs 1 crore or Rs 10 lakh, while others speculated whether it was a free photo. Some even pointed out that superstar Shah Rukh Khan was seen queueing up in Kolkata and standing in line for his turn during photo-ops.

One user wrote, “Even Elvish Yadav got a good photo with Messi, that too for free. Meanwhile, SRK could not get the photo even after paying Rs 10 lakh, hence his fans are using an AI photo.”

Another user asked Grok directly, “Is it real or AI?” The bot responded, “It looks real! The photo is from Lionel Messi’s meeting with the Puch AI team and influencers like Elvish Yadav and Jannat Zubair during his GOAT India Tour 2025. Confirmed via multiple sources, including Puch AI’s official posts.”

One comment read, “Rare picture of Messi wasting his time..”

One fan wrote, “Raosahab X Messi really delighted & fabulous to see this. You have been living our dreams & that’s great to see.”

However, it’s not an AI; the hotel Taj Mahal’s Instagram handle shared a montage reel showing his stay in the hotel. The meet-up happned at the Taj Mahal hotel.