In Venice, with Shakira - big fat Indian wedding gets bigger

New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) Grand palazzos, gondolas and Colombian pop star Shakira in person! It couldn't get bigger than the grand Indian wedding of Britain-based industrialist Pramod Agarwal's daughter in Venice at a reported cost of 10 million euros.

The May 12-14 affair to remember saw as many as 800 guests and 72 hours of celebration, the high point of which was a performance by Shakira. The three-day extravaganza saw elephants and horses traipsing down the charming Italian city of canals.

Agarwal, an Indian born metals commodities trader and investor, hosted the wedding of his daughter Vinita to Muqit Teja at the San Clemente Palace Hotel and Resort.

According to weddingsutra.com, a huge team of coordinators and specialists from Mumbai and Delhi was flown down to conceptualise the grand affair, which included logistics and hospitality teams, decor tycoon Sumant Jayakrishnan along with ace photographers Badal and Raja Jain, while well-known chefs from India took care of the Indian cuisine.

This is not the first time an international artist has performed at an Indian wedding. International popstar Akon also performed at the wedding reception of Mumbai socialites Kajal Fabiani and Gaurav Assomull in Monte Carlo in March this year.

Bollywood is, of course, not far behind. From Shah Rukh Khan and Malaika Arora to Neha Dhupia and Minissha Lamba, stars have often been seen performing at the weddings of business tycoons and politicians.

Congress leader Kanwar Singh Tanwar's son's marriage in Delhi, for instance, saw a slew of Bollywood stars taking to the stage. These included Shah Rukh, Neha Dhupia, Zarine Khan and Minissha Lamba.

In 2004, ace businessman Laxmi Mittal's daughter's wedding saw Shah Rukh, Juhi Chawla, Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherjee showing dance moves choreographed by Farah Khan. Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai also set the stage on fire with high-energy performances.

His brother Pramod celebrated his birthday in a lavish bash in Central London. Sajid Khan hosted the event, Shah Rukh played James Bond, while Bipasha Basu, Celina Jaitley and Dia Mirza were also the part of the celebrations.

The week-long mega-wedding of the two sons of Sahara business group chief Subrota Roy in 2004 was also a star-studded affair with stars like Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya. The guests were entertained by a music group flown in from London and dances choreographed by a top Bollywood dance director.

Industrialist Pradeep Dhoot's son Saurabh's marriage to Radhika Singhal was also full of celebrities like Bipasha and Malaika and King Khan. Katrina Kaif also gave a dance performance at the wedding.

--Indo-Asian news Service

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