It's official. Rani Mukerji is now Mrs Rani Chopra. The actress tied the knot with her longtime partner, Aditya Chopra, on April 21 and going by her statement, "it was a beautiful wedding in the Italian countryside with just a few of our close relatives and friends with us". Though it's being made out that the wedding was a spur of the moment decision taken while on an Italian holiday, a visit to the (late) Yash Chopra's house revealed that Aditya's mother Pamela had left for Italy around April 10. "Madam left with a lot of bag and baggage," the watchman on duty told Mirror.
READ: Aditya Chopra and Rani Mukerji tie the knot!Meanwhile, Rani's staff at Juhu's Theosophical Society told us that her bungalow was under renovation, possibly prepping for the newly weds. "Shabnam Gupta is doing the interiors and our guess is that madam has been staying at Vikas Park (Aditya Chora's residence) since the renovation began," they informed. Buzz is, Rani has been shopping for her trousseau for the past several weeks and picked up around 12-13 designer outfits from a Juhu boutique outside her mother's home in Janki Kutir.
Rani and Aditya left with his brother Uday, her parents, Ram and Krishna Mukerji, brother Raja and sister-in-law Jyoti on Friday for Italy. The couple's best friend Karan Johar flew out a day later. Rani's bosom pal, choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant also joined the group. Another friend of the bride (name withheld on request) revealed that she had kept the wedding a closely-guarded secret from almost everybody.
READ: Rani Mukerji and Aditya Chopra's 'mysterious' love story!"When we asked her last week what she was getting ready for, she simply said that she was going for a holiday," said the friend. Uday was keen that his ladylove Nargis Fakhri be present at the shaadi. But the actress was shooting for her international film, Spy, at Budapest and couldn't make it. Rani's cousin Ayan and her uncle Deb Mukerji were conspicuous by their absence. When we dropped by at Deb's Santa Cruz home to talk about the wedding he turned cagey.
"Rani and Adi have been going around since a very long time. They are very happy with each other and have now settled down. What's there to discuss?" Aditya Chopra was earlier married to interior decorator Payal, though they filed for divorce in 2009.
READ: Rani Mukerji and her alleged love affairs!Rani and Aditya's friendship predates the event, though the couple never publicly admitted to the relationship. Perhaps because both Yash and Pam were very close to Payal and refused to acknowledge Rani as a good friend of their son. According to the grapevine, the duo had exchanged the vows two years ago, around the time Jab Tak Hai Jaan was in finishing stages. Rani was present at Yash Chopra's funeral and the chautha, standing by Aditya's side.
Then, Shatrughan Sinha created a flutter in February 2013 at the unveiling of Yash Chopra's statue when he referred to Rani Mukerji as Rani Chopra and later insisted it was not a slip of tongue. Then, around six months ago, she started flashing a diamond ring that close friends insisted was an engagement ring. Finally on Tuesday morning, Rani in her statement confirmed Shatru's guess saying, "I have always believed in fairy tales and with God's grace my life has been exactly like one, and now as I enter the most important chapter of my life"the fairy tale continues."
READ: What led Adi to suddenly marry Rani in Italy?And Shatrughan says that his intuition has now proved right. "I had a feeling that they would get married very soon. I was only pushing the case. Kudos to Adi. Good sense has prevailed. Rani deserved this marriage, as she has been committed to him. I hope they have a happy and peaceful married life."
While Mahesh Bhatt who gave Rani her first chartbuster Aati Kya Khandala in Ghulam said: "Better late than never. Thank God, this love story has had a happy ending," Pradeep Sarkar sounded a wee bit worried about the development even though he has completed his film with Rani, Mardaani.
Listen to hit songs of Rani Mukerji at Gaana.com"I don't know if I'll need to shoot with her for a few more days and I am yet to edit the film," he sighed. However Sarkar need not worry. Rani's staff told Mirror that she is expected to be back in Mumbai in the next 8 to 10 days.
Rani's Man Friday Anoss who has worked with the actress for nearly a decade, described her as a "lovely person" and said she was never tense about whether "Adi sir" would marry her or not. "She had her family's support and trusted him implicitly. Sabar ka phal meetha hota hai," he asserted. Aditya's staff is in high spirits waiting for him to bring home his bride. "Hum Adi sir aur Rani madam ko welcome karne ki liye tayyar baithe hain," they echoed exuberantly.
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