Aishwarya Rai

Aishwarya n Abhishek

Bollywood heartthrob Abhishek Bachchan and our very own stunning beauty, Aishwarya Rai were married this Friday in a ceremony that brought most of Mumbai to a standstill.

The Bollywood-besotted Indian city of Mumbai came to a standstill at the weekend as two of its biggest stars, emerald-eyed beauty Aishwarya Rai, 33, and Abhishek Bachchan, tied the knot.

Dubbed the wedding of the century by the Indian media, the festivities had many of the elements of one of the couple’s on-screen romances – riotous color, dance routines and melodrama. The celebrations ran over three days and included a Sunday visit to the Tirupathi Ventakeswara temple in the south of the country, where the couple partook of prasad or blessed food.

Aishwarya, a former Miss World, was breathtaking on that occasion in a hand-embroidered red and gold sari, with vermilion powder in the parting of her hair, and a necklace of black and gold beads. Her 31-year-old groom was dressed in a loose white tunic over baggy trousers.

Aishwarya Abhishek Wedding

The traditional festivities had kicked off on Friday with a private marriage ceremony at the Bachchan family home, where hundreds of well-wishers cheered the 31-year-old groom as he emerged astride a white stallion, his face covered by a veil of white flowers.

This was followed the next day by the vidaai, a ceremony in which the bride bids farewell to her parental home. With all the excitement of their big day over, the newlyweds have apparently jetted off to Venice, Italy for a month-long honeymoon.

This was the biggest and most talked about marriage of all times. And why not? It was Ash Abhishek, the Bollywood’s two biggest superstars, and world over known celebrities, getting married. So Aishwarya Rai is now finally Mrs. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Wow! That’s a relief. We, as always, wish Aishwarya and Abhishek, all the best in their lives. Wishing them a very happy and married life.

By the way, what do you think. Are they the best couple together? Or can you fit in Aishwarya with some other actor or Abhishek with some other actress, just to make even better pair then Aishwarya n Abhishek.

I tried myself, but they seem to be a great pair and i failed in all true sense. But i still think that Rishi Kapoor and Neetu make up the best couple whether off screen or on screen, followed closely by Aishwarya and Abhishek.

Aishwarya Rai's Mehandi Ceremony

Ahhh….So it’s the eve. The Big Day is almost here. Lot of news and lot to talk about Aishwarya and Abhishek’s marriage. With no doubts, this is the biggest marriage occassion if we are talking about Bollywood. Aishwarya and Abhishek are both at the top of their rocking career and one of the biggest celebrities in Bollywood. No doubt this has to be the biggest event. And we are happy for them, aren’t we?

The stage is set for the ultimate ritzy and swanky Bollywood wedding when Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai tie the knot on Friday even as the traditional “mehndi” ceremony got underway tonight. After an elaborate ‘sangeet’ ceremony which lasted till wee hours this morning, Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan’s wedding celebrations saw a traditional ‘mehendi’ ceremon.

The mehendi ceremony held at the bride`s home in La Mer Apartments in suburban Bandra was a totally private affair on the second day of the three-day marriage festivities. “As per tradition, the mehndi ceremony was held at the bride’s house. It was a small, private ceremony with only close relatives and friends of the Rais invited,” sources close to the actress said.

The sources said last night’s sangeet ceremony was an “emotional affair” with all members of the Bachchan family putting in performances and dancing away into the night to their favourite Bollywood numbers.

“Since sangeet went on till early this morning, everybody is understandably tired and therefore the ceremony started a little late than originally planned,” the sources said.

A special pandal was also erected in the compound of La Mer apartment. Unlike Wednesday during the sangeet ceremony at the Bachchan residence “Prateeksha”, there was no huge crowds wanting to catch a glimpse of tinsel stars.

The wedding ceremony will be held at the Bachchans’ bungalow “Prateeksha” late Friday evening, which will be attended by some of the top personalities in the country.

Mulayam Singh Yadav, Karan Johar, Bal Thackeray, Sanjay Dutt, Anil and Tina Ambani, Sachin Tendulkar and Subroto Roy among others have been invited for the wedding.

Before the ceremony, the marriage procession will leave from the Bachchans’ other bungalow ‘Jalsa’ in the evening.

This is going to be really BIG. And like always, our love to Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek. May God bless them and may they live happily forever.

Aishwarya in Provoked

In Irish novelist Roddy Doyle’s The Woman Who Walked Into Doors, the battered wife Paula keeps justifying her bruises by saying she as a habit walks into closed doors and hurts herself.

The battered wife Kiranjit in Jagmohan Mundhra’s jolting expose on domestic values never gets a chance to walk in or out of that closed London door where she lives with her brutal husband. She chooses her husband’s death over own exit.

It’s amazing how the true-life Kiranjit Ahluwalia found freedom by setting her brutal husband on fire. In one of the film’s most sensitively delineated dialogues, Kiranjit says to her rather overly benign prison mates, “I’ve never felt freer in my life.”

Provoked is based on an autobiography by Kiranjit Ahluwalia who was jailed for killing her violent husband by setting him on fire in 1989 after having endured a decade of rape and beatings.

Critics have often panned our beautiful Aishwarya Rai for her acting skills.

But this time, Aishwarya, has garnered praise for her realistic portrayal – a far cry from the trademark glitz of Bollywood films.

“Definitely, she has shown the pain of my life on her face,” Ahluwalia told the Hindu newspaper. “She has done a very good job.”

Ahluwalia was charged with murder in 1989 and sentenced to life, but the punishment was reduced after pressure from activists which put the spotlight on domestic abuse.

Director Jagmohan Mundhra said Rai’s allure for millions of Indians and an international profile would help pull in audiences for what is considered an unappealing topic in Bollywood, which mainly churns out candyfloss romances.

“It took me some time to release the film here because Indian distributors are not believers in non-formula films,” Mundhra said.

Well done Aishwarya! I have never been so impressed by your acting, personally! Way to go!!! Good luck. We love ya!