Bollywood celebs at Jaipur wedding

They come here as guests, at weddings in the city, shake a leg, rake in the moolah and also make the city as famous as them

In the past couple of years Bollywood stars have made frequent chakkars of the Pink City – all to shake a leg at some lavish wedding of the rich and the famous.

Also, these days, they love to come to the city, as one wedding planner tells us, because it is now front-of-mind for celebs to perform at a wedding in the city. Remember the wedding of the Dubai-based businessman, Prakash Chandnani's daughter Monika with Rakesh in December last year? Not only did Chandnani choose Jaipur as the wedding venue, he also invited a host of actors to perform at the sangeet sandhya. Among them were Malaika Arora Khan, Minissha Lamba and Neha Dhupia. Bobby Deol, Sanjay Kapoor, Lalit Pandit and Aditya Pancholi were also part of the function. As the planner adds, "Earlier, it was difficult to convince the stars to come to Jaipur and perform at a wedding until they already knew the bride/ groom or their families. However, these days, it need not be a royal wedding or a political bigwig's for the actors to come and dance."  

Another wedding in the city that brought stars by the droves was that of Rishabh Tongya and Divya Modi. The reception of the couple saw performances by Sameera Reddy, Sunidhi Chauhan, Eesha Koppikhar and American guitarist Roni Benise. The reception was anchored by Mini Mathur and DJ Aqeel was at the console. When we'd spoken to Sameera earlier, she had told us, "I chose to perform at this wedding as it was extravagant and the families are fantastic." The sangeet of this wedding also saw performances by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Anuradha Paudwal among others. Another wedding, that of the Jaipur-based businessman, Gaurav Singhi was also a starry affair with TV actor Shama Sikander and Suchitra Pillai taking to the dance floor. 

And then, there was the big-ticket wedding of adman Ajay Chopra's son in Jaipur – where Rahat Fateh Ali Khan had come to perform, and Sunidhi again flew in for an NRI wedding. One of the event managers in the city, who handles such big-ticket weddings, explains, "There are a lot of weddings in Jaipur these days for which stars come to perform and they charge a whopping amount.

Some weddings are hushed down-affairs and nobody even gets a whiff of who's coming when, because both the host and the stars keep it under wraps. Singer Kunal Ganjawala performed at a private function in the city for which he had charged approx `12 lakhs. Sonu Nigam and Sunidhu Chauhan charge `18-20 lakhs to perform at a wedding. Agar singers itna charge karte hain toh actors kitna karte hoonge? Getting actors to perform at weddings has now become a mark of having arrived. Yeh social status ka sawaal hai."

Neha, Vivek at a filmy do in Mumbai

Romance never goes out of fashion. And banking on this, Apoorv Gupta is all set to make his debut in world of music with his album, Ek Ladki Shabnmi Jaisi, which is a compilation of seven soul stirring songs.

The album was launched recently by Neha Dhupia and Vivek Oberoi. The compilation has been produced by Sampoorna Advertising & Communications, and distributed by Venus Tapes & Records. The music videos for the songs Teri Palkein and Ek Ladki, star Pulkit Samrat and Yami Gautam.

Says Apoorv, "I am ecstatic knowing that my efforts have paid off so well. Music is my passion and my first love. This album is a compilation of songs that are very close to my heart."

Prachi Desai at a fashion show in Mumbai

Society ladies had another reason for an outing as they attended Maheka Mirpuri's Spring/Summer 2011 collection.

With a bed of flowers for the models to sashay on, Maheka's line was greeted with approval by her girlfriends. Choreographed and directed by Anu Ahuja, the gorgeous Austrian town of Salzburg was recreated to make the stage resemble a kaleidoscope of vibrant colours.

Prachi Desai, Naaz Jhaveri, Esther Daswani, Madhoo, Roopa Vohra, Bhumika Chawla, Kahini Arte Merchant, Kaushika Hemdev, Shama Sikander, Apeksha Chopra, Meetha Mulchandani and several other ladies were seen enjoying a sumptuous lunch post the fashion show as they besieged Maheka to design similar outfits for themselves.

Sara Ali avoid each other at this do

The glitterati were in for a real treat at this do at Andheri.

At the launch of the second outlet of Red Ant by China Gate Restaurants Pvt Ltd, the red carpet was rolled out to celebrities and they were welcomed into a stylishly retro ambience with scrumptious munchies, fruit martinis and more. Jay Bhanushali and Mahhi Vij walked in together, and were seen talking to Ankit Tamang.

Ex-flames Ali Merchant and Sara Khan diligently avoided each other. After catching up with friends, Abhishek Awasthi headed straight for the bar and prepared his own cocktail.

 On the other side, Ramji Gulati shook a leg to the hits spun by DJ-G. Everyone was glad to spot husband-wife Shakti Anand and Sai Deodhar at an event after a long while. The café bar, replete with LED screens and comfortable interiors made for a great party venue.

Hrithiks b-day bash

Hrithik Roshan celebrated his birthday in style with his close friends and industry associates. Shades were in at this night party as Shah Rukh Khan and Zayed Khan both flaunted designer shades.

Family members made sure that they kept a close eye so that guests have no reason to complain. Shilpa Shetty Kundra (that red sure looks good on her) was with her hubby Raj Kundra and sister Shamita Shetty. Twinkle Khanna too turned up for the bash as did Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani.

Deepika Padukone and Sidhartha Mallya arrived in a car together. Others seen at the do were Katrina Kaif, Dino Morea, Surily Goel, Kunal Kapoor, Uday Chopra, Rocky S and Chunky Panday. But the babe of the night was Karisma Kapoor (God, her oomph is just soaring with age!) who sported a black ensemble and looked stunningly sexy.

A starry shopping fest in Delhi

It was the coldest Sunday evening in the past 42 years... yet Delhiites could not resist coming to Connaught Place's Inner Circle, as it was the grand finale of the Citibank CP Shopping Festival, partnered by Delhi Times.

The Navy Jazz and Brass Band set the mood, as the crowd gathered to catch a glimpse of the celebrities who came in one by one to grace the festive occasion. 

We heard some oohs and aahs when Vijender Singh stepped in, and addressed the crowd. And the boxer – with his gelled and spiked hair – along with Kunal (the masterchef we saw on TV with Akshay Kumar, remember?), gave away a swanky car to Saugat Suri, an 11-year-old girl, who had won this as a prize in the festival. We learnt from her mom Neeru Suri that it was the little winner's birthday eve that day. Didn't we say that this fest is a treat? Later, when we caught up with Vijender, he told us, "CP toh waise bhi mujhe apna sa lagta hai, so I am very happy to be here."

'TURNING' UP ON TIME: As the Rajputana Rifles' band ensured there was music that suited the occasion, Atul Bhargava, president, New Delhi Traders Association (NDTA), said, "The footfalls have increased in the past few months, yet I would like to tell people that shopping in CP is an altogether new experience now, and they shouldn't miss the chance." While Varun Dutt, director, Infopreneurs, was chatting with Vijender and Kunal, his colleague Ajay Sood announced that the cast of "Turning 30" has arrived. And entered Gul Panag, Alankrita Shrivastava, Purab Kohli and Siddharth Makkar. Gul and Alankrita took the mike and announced, "We both are Delhiites, so we will wish you guys together," and said a big hello that cheered up the crowd. But for us, it was hard to digest that the two are from this city. Arre, they came on time, na (Delhi celebs, please take lessons)! Then it was time for Purab to address the crowd, so he began with, "I came to Delhi for the first time at the age of 5, and lived in CP.

At that time, I didn't know how big and wonderful this city is..." There was a slight interruption. Girls were excited and were cheering, which ahem... made Purab blush, and end up joking, "I think all the girls who are shouting will certainly watch my film." Some more music, more cheering, and of course, celebs obliging with photo-ops later... the grand celebrations at the C-Block parking area came to an end.