The ever reclusive Aditya Chopra, who directs some of the most beautiful love stories onscreen, never came across as a romantic at heart to most. But he managed to surprise everybody, including his fiancée, Rani Mukerji, by planning a secret wedding. What’s more? Their secret wedding took place at one of the most romantic destinations for lovebirds- Italy.
So, how exactly did Aditya do that? Well, here are the complete details behind Rani Mukerji and Aditya Chopra's secret wedding. Everything from the planning to the wedding wear and rituals, we have it all for you right here.
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Rani and Aditya’s relationship was one of the most talked about affairs in Bollywood. Yet both of them never publicly accepted this. Shatrugan Sinha’s “Rani Chopra” gaffe did have a few tongues wagging, but all was quiet for a while.
Then there came the rumours that they were going to get married on February 14, 2014, at Umaid Bhavan, Udaipur. But the wedding got postponed. However, on April 21, 2014, this couple surprised everybody by announcing that they had got married in Italy (Read Here)!
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Aditya Chopra, whose first wedding was a Punjabi affair, decided to make his second marriage a Bengali wedding for his blushing bride. One of his friends revealed to the media that Aditya meticulously had planned all the details of the wedding. As Rani in an interview to a leading daily, confessed, “I had always wanted a Bengali wedding and he (Aditya) always knew that. So he told me very sweetly, I will do whatever you tell me on that day.”
So, he read up on Bengali culture and ensured that all the rituals were followed with precision. He wanted to ensure that the ceremony was conducted in traditional Bengali manner, and so he had a pandit flown in especially for this. He pulled all stops to please his bride-to-be, and ensured that everything went smoothly. From their trousseau to the guest list and the entire ceremony, Aditya took care of everything.
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Rani, who was touched by Aditya’s grand gesture, had said in her official statement, “I have always believed in fairytales 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 fairytale continues.”
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Sabyasachi was especially flown in to dress Rani in her bridal wear. She wore a traditional Bengali mukut and red and gold silk Benarasi saree. She also wore aalta on her feet, and sported red and white bindi-style dots on her forehead along with one big red one in the centre, just like a traditional Bengali bride.
Aditya looked handsome in his cream-coloured dhoti and kurta with gold embroidery work. Aditya even sported a topor (the white conical headgear worn by grooms).
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From conch shells and ululation to saat paak and subho drishti, Rani and Aditya’s union was a traditional Bengali wedding in all true sense.
Before the ceremony started, Rani’s mother welcomed Aditya to the family with the bor-boron ceremony. Rani also performed the saat paak ceremony, where she encircled Aditya seven times while sitting on a piri (a stool), with her face covered with paan leaves. This was followed by the subho drishti ceremony, where the bride puts the leaves down, so that she and her groom can look at each other for the first time during the ceremony. All these rituals happened with conch shells ringing in the background.
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Well, it seems Aditya’s efforts and planning to make sure that his bride gets a dream wedding did not go in vain at all. Rani herself in an interview said, "It was like a dream wedding, I might sound corny, what else could be the marriage of a Yash Chopra bahu? It had to be romantic and it was at an Italian country side, in a place called Cortona. It was one of the most famous places to get married. I got married in a Bengali way and it was really nice to see Adi in a 'topor' and 'dhoti'.”
Recently on the television show, Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa, Rani's fans got to know an additional wedding detail that Rani Mukerji sang the song "Kabhi neem neem..." from her film Yuva at their wedding night for Aditya Chopra. Well, sweet, isin't it?
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Rani says, “My wedding was attended by 20 people including my brother's kids and father's nurse.” So, it is certain that very few people apart from the closest of the family members knew about this super-secretive wedding.
Well, the wedding was so secretive that many of Rani’s relatives had no clue about the wedding all. Rani’s uncle, Rono Mukerji, has been quoted saying, “I don't know anything, and you (media) are giving me the news. How strange it is that an uncle doesn't know about his niece's wedding. They haven't informed me.” Surprisingly, even Rani’s cousins who are themselves a part of Bollywood- Kajol, Tanisha and Ayan Mukherjee were not invited to the wedding!
If rumours are to be believed, Karan Johar, Sabyasachi, Vaibhavi Merchant, and other close friends and family members made it to the guest list.
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A month after the wedding Rani and Aditya threw a hush-hush reception party in Mumbai. The celebs who were invited were Karan Johar and his mother, Anupam and Kirron Kher, Siddharth Kak, Nitesh Mukesh and other close friends from the industry.
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So, these were the insider’s details of Aditya and Rani’s secret wedding. We wish this wonderful couple a happy married life!