The sky is the limit-Shaan

The sky is the limit

A ROARINGAFFAIR: Amrita Arora with her nephew Arhaan, Seema Khan with her son Nirvaan and Wardha Nadiadwala at her son Subhan's Lion King theme party EOF8

Expensive theme parties for star kids' birthdays are the 'in' thing
Shaheen Parkar
shaheen@mid-day.com

When stars know how to celebrate in style, can their tiny tots be left behind? Their birthdays signal a time to splurge. From the bizarre and outlandish to the familiar toon characters, a theme party is mandatory.
And at such events, all eyes are not on the starry guests in attendance, but on the thematic events that unfold — a source of delight, both for the kids as well as the adults.
Jo bacche kahein
Meghna Mathuria of Party Planet has been organising star kiddie bashes for the last six years. She began with Roshan Abbas's son Arsalan's bash and has even organised parties for Shaan, Sajid Nadiadwala, Mini Mathur and several other Bollywood people besides corporate bigwigs.
"If the child is one or two years old, it is generally left for the parents to decide the theme, but a bigger child usually wants a theme of his choice or whatever is the current rage," says Mathuria. Sometimes, if is also the parents' favourite that becomes the theme.'
For Roshan Abbas's child, Mathuria organised a Wizard of Oz and Lost World theme bash. "His wife, Shaheen, is a Wizard of Oz fan, so we had little wizards all over the place. Wardha Nadiadwala liked The Lion King, so her son Subhaan had the Lion King theme."
Costly affair
These bashes are no ordinary birthday bashes. Mathuria takes care of everything from the invites, the cake, the games and the return gifts. "Most starry birthdays are held at five-star venues, so I take care of everything, except the catering."
Depending on the theme, each child is accordingly dressed. "We also put up a changing area at the venue, so that kids can dress according to the theme. Like a Hawaiian bash will have a coconut with glares and a coconut umbrella as the invite, with the dress code being straw skirts. The themes could be from a tribal village to a fun fair. However, the biggest highpoint is the cake."
The most bizarre request was for an underwater theme party and a cake to match. So the kids were all in snorkelling gear with duck-feet boots. I had to get the cake with foam, sponge, fishes besides all the flora and fauna as decorations on the cake which were all edible."
And what about the costs of such a bash? "It could be anything from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. Really, the sky is the limit!"

papa the pooh: Shaan's son, Soham, enjoys his Winnie The Pooh theme party

viva vivaan! Mini Mathur and Kabir Khan with their son Vivaan at his carnival birthday bash