Abhi-Ash marriage solemnised

Mumbai, Apr 20 (UNI) Bollywood's much revered stars Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan today tied the nuptial knot at the Bachchan residence 'Prateeksha' in presence of family members, relatives and friends from the world of cinema, politics, sports and business.

The marriage was solemnised as per traditional Hindu rituals at around 19O0 hrs and Aishwarya looked resplendent and at her best in a gold-coloured saree and Abhishek wore a Sherwani.

The venue was tastefully decorated with Marigold flowers, banana leaves and illuminated in the most beautiful way.

The wedding trouseau was designed by Neeta Lulla, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla.

The venue holds sentimental value for Bachchan as it is the place where he lived with his parents, younger brother, wife and kids and it was here that Harivanshrai Bachchan passed away in 2003 and his daughter Shweta married Nikhil Nanda, grandson of actor-film maker Raj Kapoor in February 1997.

Nearly 200 guests were present at the 'Abhi-Ash' marriage. Apart from family and relatives of the two families, close friends like industrialist Anil Ambani, his wife Tina Ambani, UP Chief Minsiter Mulayam Singh Yadav, Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh and his family members, Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray and his wife Rashmi, Bengali director Rituporno Ghosh, Sahara Group head Subroto Roy and his family, Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and wife Anjali, industrialist Gautam Singhania and his wife Nawaz, choreographer Shaimak Davar, actor Shammi Kapoor and his family members, film maker Karan Johar, actress Kirron Kher, Anupam Kher and their son Sikander, Ajay Devgan and Kajol, Ram Gopal Verma, Sanjay Dutt, director Ashutosh Gowarikar and his wife, Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia among those present.

Elaborate security arrangements were made outside Prateeksha with police personnel and private security guards deployed.

However, despite the tight bandobust, security men could not contain the surge of people that turned up to have a glimpse of the celebration.

The police forcibly pushed back the onlookers who were disrupting traffic on the main road. However, no one was hurt.

The Bachchan family had requested the police not to use physical force to turn away fans and other curious onlookers.

Earlier the 'baraatees', including members of the Bachchan family, arrived at Prateeksha in seven volvo buses from Jalsa, the other family bungalow of the Bachchan's, situated a km away.

UNI