Saifeena Wedding: Mughal-themed reception a VVIP affair

With over 600 security personnel standing guard, the Dawat-E-Walima of Bollywood's Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor was a grand politico affair.

From Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's wife Gursharan Kaur to Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, it was a rare sight to see a Bollywood event overshadowed by India's political power players.

Not that celebrities didn't make their presence felt either with Kareena's and Saif's director and friend Imtiaz Ali turning up, along with Madhur Bhandarkar and - stangely - Nandita Das.

Saif's mother and Begum of Pataudi, looking dapper in a gold and cream sari, addressed reporters outside the Aurangzeb Lane bungalow where the reception was being held to say: "What I am wearing is not important. What's important is this marriage and I hope everyone's blesses this happy couple."

The celebrations marked the culmination of a five-day wedding gala for Saif, 42, and Kareena, 32.

The mughal-themed reception paid tribute to the era of the Nawabs, with special artefacts from Saif's ancestral home, Pataudi Palace, having specially been shipped down for the grand affair.

The highlight of the gold and maroon hued 'durbar' or majlis created for the walima was said to be a 200 year old maroon carpet with intricate hand work.

Among other attendees at the event were ministers Farooq Abdullah, Rajiv Shukla, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kamal Nath, Congress' Renuka Chowdhary and Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley, former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, and politician-writer Shashi Tharoor with his wife Sunanda.

Celebrities from the world of cricket included Bishen Singh Bedi, Kapil Dev and Ajay Jadeja, while designer Ritu Kumar (who restored Kareena's wedding gharara), along with Meera and Muzaffar Ali and Manish Malhotra stepped up from the fashion world.

Malhotra also designed Kareena's entire trousseau, with the bride allegedly wearing a gold and pink gharara; meanwhile, Saif's was said to be wearing a black sherwani designed by Raghuvendra Rathore.

This wedding reception brought an end to the Bollywood union that started last Sunday with a sangeet ceremony at Saifeena's Mumbai residence, followed by a registered marriage on Tuesday and an exchange of vows that same evening.

Top Image courtesy: Worldwide Boxoffice

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