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Bollywood's Mr and Mrs B - Jnr
21/04/2007 13:03 - (SA)
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| Bollywood actress Jaya Bachchan arrives for the marriage ceremony of her son Abhishek Bachchan at the family's residence in Mumbai, India. (Rajesh Nirgude, AP) |
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Mumbai - Bollywood stars Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan began life as "Mr and Mrs Bachchan" on Saturday after three days of wedding celebrations for Indian cinema's hottest couple.
"It's a Bollygood show," said a headline in the Hindustan Times newspaper on Saturday over a picture of the wedding procession in Mumbai, India's entertainment capital, where thousands of fans jostled for a glimpse of the stars.
The two were married late the previous night.
"Reel to real: Abhi-Ash get married," said the daily Indian Express, a reference to the couple's nickname "Abhiash", or India's answer to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's "Brangelina" partnership.
Police had to use batons to control the crowd on Friday.
People broke through barriers and climbed trees to catch a glimpse of the former Miss World and the son of veteran Indian screen legend Amitabh Bachchan.
"There's no monarchy in India but there are the Bachchans - this is the dream wedding," said Jagdeep Kapoor, chairperson of an Indian marketing consultancy.
Movie-mad Indians have been feasting on details of the couple's wedding in which Rai, 33, wore a red sari for the traditional Hindu ceremony, while the 32-year-old groom sported a ceremonial turban and a gold-embroidered, cream-coloured sherwani coat.
The ceremony kicked off at the auspicious hour of 18:13 on Friday with an exchange of garlands.
Astrologers had poured over the couple's star charts to determine the ideal time for the wedding.
Eleven priests chanted mantras and the couple walked around a sacred fire seven times to complete their marriage.
Billed as the "wedding of the year" by the Indian media, the event was kept relatively low key out of deference to the bridegroom's grandmother, who was unwell in hospital.
Unlike usual Indian weddings where the guest list could run into thousands of people, the wedding ceremony was restricted to around 100 close friends and family.
The only controversy came away from the festivities, when a "mentally disturbed" and little-known Bollywood actress attempted suicide ahead of the wedding, claiming Abhishek had promised to marry her, police said on Friday.
- AFP
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