Abhishek Bachchan Aishwarya Rai Wedding : Some Vignettes

Abhishek Bachchan* and Aishwarya Rai# got married on 20th April in what was described as a private affair. The wedding will be remembered as one of the most talked about events for years to come. Such celebrity events also serve as markers for entire generations. A disproportinately large number of couples from my folks generation remember their wedding as being 'n' months or weeks after the Amitabh-Jaya wedding. A friend and his elder sister have been marked in their family as the same age as Shweta and Abhishek (the Bachchan siblings) and so on so forth. And I reckon now their wedding dates will also be marked relative to the Big Bachchan wedding.

The exclusive abhi-aish wedding pics.

The coverage has been overwhelming and bordered on the pornographic. An important point of the media discussion was the list of invitees. The number has varied from 300 to 500 depending upon who you choose to trust. And considering the status of the Bachchan clan, 300 is not even a drop in the mighty ocean. One billion of the 1.2 billion Indians know Amitabh Bachchan so intimately that it would be a social faux pas to not invite them for such a gracious occassion. Most Indians have had their fill of the wedding owing to the ever vigilant and activist media. Under such dire circumstances it is mighty courageous to actually post something on it and I try to rise up to the challenge and offer you a refreshing look at the wedding as well as provide some vignettes around the whole charade.

It is sometimes necessary to mark the world into a continuum of the good, the bad and the ugly. While its use remains open to charges of plagiarism or in the Hindi movie world to being inspired, it fits the purpose of this post.

The Good

The Economic Times in its coverage of the wedding carried this wonderful story. Ganesh Pal, a 43 year old male from New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, finally led his bride Mamoni to the Kali Temple and sealed his wedding as star groom Abhishek was riding the horse to his bride's house. This story was important enough to meet stringent media selection and even shorter attention span because Ganesh Pal is a big fan of Amitabh Bachchan and as 'a youth' had vowed to marry on the same day as his idol's son. The Bengal couple had been engaged for a while and the bride Mamoni prayed that Abhishek would get married soon.

The Bad

The Central Chronicle, a daily from Bhopal, reports that while the marriage has brought excitement and joy to the couple`s relatives and fans but only added to the woes to eunuchs living near the venue of the high-profile wedding.Though their presence at marriages is considered auspicious in some parts of India, police rounded up close to 100 eunuchs and detained them for the duration of the star wedding to prevent them from creating a "ruckus". Police, however, had a tough time finding place to hold so many eunuchs, who can be handled only by women constables and need special cells.

The Ugly

Bad news is good news, runs the maxim deep in all journalistic enterprises and it was no different on the special day. A young struggling actress slashed her wrist in an attempted suicide claiming she was married to Abhishek Bachchan. Janhavi Kapoor, who had done a minor role in Abhishek Bachchan's starrer 'Dus', suddenly appeared from nowhere in the wee hours of the wedding morning outside "Prateeksha", the scene of Bachchan wedding celebrations, and inflicted injuries on her wrist after a dose of sleeping pills. After daybreak Janhavi held a press conference at her suburban Andheri residence and held forth on her claim that Abhishek married her in December 2006 applying sindoor on her forehead promising formal solmenisation after he gets a Filmfare award.

The Vicarious

ManikChand Choksi, a young Bachchan fan who came from the northern city of Allahabad, the actor's hometown said," It's our idol's son's marriage. We don't need an invitation. We think we are a part of the groom's side."

A mithaiwallah (one who sells Indian sweets) from Kanpur whose shop was used as a location in the successful Abhishek Bachchan film, Bunty aur Bubli, sent over 51 kilograms of sweets, to the Bachchan household as a wedding gift.

The Asides

The guest list was an important focus of the nation in frenzy. The chosen few were asked to keep mum and not speak to the press. The omissions were glaring in many respects.

1. The Gandhi family: No Comments.

2. Shah Rukh Khan: Will get reports from buddy/lover Karan Johar.

3. Salman Khan: THE Ex-Bf. Last heard has been drinking since the marriage was announced. Animals, pavement dewellers should beware.

4. Rani Mukherjee: Once prospective (??) Bachchan Bride. Great Screen chemistry with Junior Bachchan.

5. Vivek Oberoi: Ex-BF of bride Aishwarya. Hasnt been seen in the press for like ages now.

6. Hrithik Roshan: Childhood Buddy, neighbour and now competition. Bride Aishwarya did a 'sexy' dance with him and even locked lips, kissed, him!

7. Me: The Common Man!

Notes:

*Abhishek Bachchan is the son of India's biggest cinema artist, Amitabh Bachchan. Amitabh Bachchan is sometimes described as India's Al Pacino and Robert Redford combined and other times, Michael Caine has been described as the Amitabh Bachchan of England. Abhishek is a rising star and has been very successful in the past two years.

#Aishwarya Rai, an ex Miss World often regarded as one of the most beautiful women in the world. Probably the most known Indian face after Mahatma Gandhi or so the country's media keeps repeating ad nauseam. Brand Ambassador for many, made the leap from Bombay to Hollywood.