The wedding of Bollywood’s real-life couple, Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia D’Souza is among the most anticipated of weddings in the Hindi film industry. The celebrations are already in full swing as the couple proceeds to tie the knot on February 3. The latest of celebrations in the lead-up to this grand marriage was the Sangeet ceremony which witnessed participation of the most renowned names from the Bollywood fraternity.
Hosted at Bandra’s upscale, Taj Lands End, this was the second high-voltage ceremony preceding the wedding. Just last week, a grand pre-nuptial party was hosted by Sajid Nadiadwala and Fardeen Khan.
Understandably, the star couple was the center of attraction at their Sangeet ceremony. While Riteish looked dapper in a bright, peacock blue sherwani, Genelia looked gorgeous, adorning a graceful, white and peach lehenga, embellished with stonework and a bright-bordered chunni.
Bollywood personalities that caught the shutterbug’s attention included the young brigade of Aftab Shivdasani, Jackky Bhagnani and Aashish Choudhury while the entire ceremony was lent voiceover by the Badshah of Bollywood—Shah Rukh Khan though he did not grace the occasion with his presence. However, his presence at the wedding is almost ensured. With SRK donning the voice, the music and a special performance by Riteish & Genelia was personally choreographed by SRK’s long-term confidante, Karan Johar.
To maintain a degree of privacy, media wasn’t allowed entry but this did not deter the cameramen and their crew to wait patiently outside the premises, eager to click the Bollywood biggies who kept rolling-in throughout the ceremony.
This included Abhishek Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Rishi Kapoor, Sajid Khan, Arshad Warsi, Sohail Khan, Shreyas Talpade and Shahid Kapoor along with leading filmmakers like Subhash Ghai, David Dhawan, Milan Luthria and Ashutosh Gowarikar.
If you recall, Riteish has acted with Aftab and Aashish in a few multi-starrers, and the guests were in splits as Aftab and Aashish performed to the song, “Ek Kunwara Phir Gaya Mara” from “Masti”—a movie that had set the platform for Riteish as a genuine comic performer.