huju ... wedding!!!!!

The look is more ornate than normal. The crowd, comprising family and friends, is dressed in wedding finery. The singer eclipses the bridegroom as the baraatis have a blast…

Sounds more shaadi mandap than musical stage? That's just what it is. And overshadowing both bride and groom is an Indian idol, or rather the Indian Idol — Abhijeet Sawant.

And if not Abhijeet Sawant, it's Hussain (of Khul Ja Sim Sim) or Aman Verma (the host of Indian Idol) or Juhi Parmar (KumKum on STAR Plus) or…

And why not? Belting out of a few numbers at a sangeet ceremony in the city — Mohabbatein lutaoonga and more — is said to make the young singing find of Sony richer by around Rs 4 lakh in an evening.

And mouthing a few dialogues made famous by their small-screen characters gets the STARs anything between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 3 lakh, depending on their daily soap appeal.

Clearly, for those who cannot afford the SRKs (Shah Rukh Khan, of course), small-screen stars are shining brightest at the mandap.

According to event managers in town, the demand for singing or talking TV stars to jazz up marriage parties is at an all-time high, courtesy the craze of reality shows and K-serials.

"These small-screen icons have their own following, especially among women and kids. They have access to our drawing rooms 24 hours a day and people start identifying with these characters. They want them to be part of their special family occasions," says Vinod Bhandari, managing director of Wedding Xtraordinaire.

But why the clamour for glamour at weddings? "People want a marriage which will be remembered for a long time to come among their peers. And they are willing to pay what is required to get one or two celebrities they can relate to, to take the stage," adds marriage manager Bhandari.

To make the celebrity presence more meaningful than monotonous, the party plan goes far beyond smiling and posing for family photographs or signing autographs for all and sundry.

Innovation is the name of the star game at shaadis, with event managers conjuring up tricks according to the trade. If it's Indian Idol Abhijeet or failed finalist Amit Sana, singing popular Bollywood numbers is the order of the evening.

For soap stars, it's lights, camera, action, on a different stage. "For a marriage in April, we roped in Hussain and Juhi Parmar to do some dance sequences. They practised in Mumbai and performed in Calcutta on the wedding night. The two-and-a-half-hour programme had most of the Bollywood shaadi numbers," says Vijay Bokadia of Moksh Events.

Among a growing section of marriage revellers, the question is not whether to get down some stars, but how much to shell out and who to get.

Katrina Kaif reportedly took Rs 3 lakh for a brief appearance at a wedding reception at City Centre. In stylised ethnic wear, she took the makeshift stage and left guests gaping.

With TV stars often more in demand than cine stars and music being the mantra of marriage bashes, the next big thing being plotted by event managers is bringing Bhangra boys and rappers down from foreign shores for a day.

😆

im gonna invite hu to my wedding.. 😕

tu phir mujhe kaun daikhe ga 😉