Ash-Abhi face competition!

Written By Saumit Singh | Updated:

Gaj Singh was conspicuous by his absence from the much publicised Arun Nayar-Liz Hurley wedding though it took place in his own palace.

Tycoon LN Mittal’s niece’s lavish wedding may well upstage the Bachchan-Rai marriage on April 20.

The Aishwarya-Abhishek wedding on April 20 is in for some serious competition. Another wedding in nearby Goa on the same day is likely to take away most of its thunder in terms of sheer grandeur and VIP attendance. And unlike the Bachchan do, this isn’t a hush-hush affair.

The couple in question is Nirvana Chaudhary and Swasti Mittal. Nirvana is the son of business tycoon Binod Chaudhary and heir to a multimillion dollar business empire with diverse interests all over the world while Swasti is the daughter of Ashok Mittal – the first cousin of LN Mittal, the richest Indian in the world. 

Interestingly, even actor-turned MP Vinod Khanna and South India’s biggest superstar Rajnikanth will be rubbing shoulders at this wedding in Goa rather than in Mumbai – though they both have a long association with Amitabh Bachchan. 

The Nepal-based Chaudharys are originally from Rajathan and they are recreating a Rajwada theme for the occasion. Fittingly, from their side, in attendance will be the biggest royal families of India including Maharaja SP Gaekwad and Asha Raje of Baroda, Maharaja Arvind Singh of Udaipur and Maharaja Gaj Singh of Jodhpur. Incidentally, Gaj Singh was conspicuous by his absence from the much publicised Arun Nayar-Liz Hurley wedding though it took place in his own palace.

Apparently preparations for the wedding started a year ago and everything from the décor, food and entertainment has been ‘imported’ into Goa. Malaika Arora Khan and Shiamak Davar are set to perform at the wedding.

With a galaxy of VVIPs set to descend on Goa for this lavish wedding, every detail of their stay is being looked into – right from the hostesses who’ll receive guests at the airport, to the special protocol officers who will be with them during the ceremonies. Among the invitees are former Nepal PM Surya Bahadur Thapa and his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickramasinghe, former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijay Singh.

This one’s certainly going the whole hog!

s_saumit@dnaindia.net