It's been a season of high profile weddings in India. But when one of the world's top 20 richest man Mukesh Ambani's daughter Isha Ambani got married with Ajay Piramal's son Anand Piramal, the convergence of the biggest global names from the worlds of business, politics and entertainment ensured it became the mother of all big, fat Indian weddings.
Ahead of the actual marriage ceremony which happened at the Ambani's, the pre-wedding festivities began on December 7 in Udaipur's Oberoi Udaivilas Hotel which was an equally star-studded affair. Apart from power-packed performances of American pop sensation Beyonce and Bollywood celebrities Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Karan Johar, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Nita Ambani and her daughter Isha what caught everyone's eye was a stall set up by the lyricist-poet Kaifi Azmi founded Mijwan Welfare Society (MWS) to showcase fashion icon Manish Malhotra’s “chikankari” embroidered designs, hand-crafted by the women of the village of Mijwan in Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh district.
Actor-activist Shabana Azmi told DNA how this came about: “Manish Malhotra has curated the Isha Ambani wedding's second day event in Udaipur. The Ambanis were very clear that it was to be a showcasing of the best crafts of India, towards which a mela was created for the guests. Mijwan was an obvious choice for Manish who has collaborated with Mijwan so closely. And the girls from the village were thrilled to be able to participate.”
Politicians like Union Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Congress MP Milind Deora; industrialists Naresh Goyal, Pinky and Sanjay Reddy of GVK; Bollywood personalities like Boney Kapoor and his daughter Jhanvi, Karishma Kapoor and many others visited the stall.
“Most of them are already familiar with Mijwan's work because they have attended Mijwan fashion shows in the past. They were effusive in their appreciation of the exquisite chikankari,” Azmi said.
When asked if there were plans to have similar stalls at other high profile weddings too, she smiled: “Not a bad idea!”
