Aishwarya Rai

There is no doubt India adores young love and weddings that resonate with the ‘happy ever after’ mantra of Bollywood films! The more than one billion people in India and millions of fans across the world are ready to share the joy of Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai on their wedding day.

Through their single-minded obsession with this wedding the fans are not vicariously sharing the joy of the famous couple but also paying homage to a favorite icon of the nation - Amitabh Bachchan.

However, each time India sits back to savor the auspicious occasion a discordant note sounds in the chimes of love pervading the whole nation.

The many letters appearing in the newspapers about the Big B’s mindless use of electricity when Mumbai is threatened with a power cut is a case in point.

Despite talk of a low key wedding Mumbaikars are reeling from the oppressive security arrangements wherein traffic has been diverted, roads have been closed and neighbors have been put under police scanners to preclude the possibility of strangers seeking refuge with them to create obstacles or worse, violence during the wedding.

TOI reports that almost 300 policemen will guard the two Bachchan residences during the three-day wedding, causing immense inconvenience to the residents of the area.

Small-minded treatment given to Bollywood colleagues

Bachchan lovers are also surprised at the reports of the small-minded treatment Bollywood’s first family are meting out to colleagues at a time when they should love the whole world!

TOI reports that all Kapoors have been invited except the Karisma-Kareena-Babita branch. Dimple Kapadia has been invited with Rinke but not Akshay Kumar and wife Twinkle Khanna!

Anil Ambani is an invitee with wife Tina and mother Kokilaben but brother Mukesh Ambani, who celebrates his 50th birthday today and is the 14th richest man in the world with his wealth hitting the $20 billion mark, has been given a miss for obvious reasons.

Though Sanjay Dutt and his new partner Manyata, Ajay Devgan and Kajol and Suneil and Mana Shetty have been invited, the three famous Khans of Bollywood – Shah Rukh, Aamir and Salman – have been left out conspicuously! Co-incidentally, Shah Rukh and Salman have patched up their differences over Ash and will appear together in KBC’s hilarious concluding episode tonight!

Most surprisingly, Rani Mukherjee has not been invited reportedly because Aishwarya does not like her after she replaced her in SRK’s Chalte Chalte. “Ash also objects to the ’screen chemistry’ between Abhishek and Rani, so evident in films like Paheli,” says the Mirror, “Rani has made several efforts to befriend Ash, but the latter has cold-shouldered every move. Even when Rani won every possible award for her superb performance in Black, Ash bypassed her and hugged her parents instead!”

While Ash is busy weeding out guests she doesn’t like, Rani is looking forward to the release of Tara Rum Pam, her next big film. Though she was once considered to be a possible bride for Abhishek, she says she’s happy with her ’single status to concentrate on her career but that she is open to having a love interest in her life!”

Meanwhile, TOI reports that the stag party on the 17th where most of Abhishek’s friends drank till they dropped and the Sangeet on the 18th, where Big B and Jaya danced nostalgically to their favorite song ‘Kabhi Kabhie’ were grand successes.

The whole of India now waits with bated breath for the Mehendi tonight and the wedding ceremony tomorrow so that the curtain comes down on the biggest filmy charade of the decade.