Mumbai: Actors Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai on Friday exchanged vows at a colourful but extremely private ceremony.


One of Bollywood's best-known screen couples, Ash-Abhi married on Friday in a traditional Arya Samaji wedding with 11 priests presiding over the ceremonies.


Action at the two Bachchan households in Juhu, Jalsa and Prateeksha, began at 1700 hours IST in the evening even as fans and media persons gathered at both venues just before the scheduled time for the baraat.


As buses arrived to take guests from Bachchans’ residence Jalsa to Prateeksha, Abhishek Bachchan was spotted atop a decorated horse accompanied by his nephew as part of the baraat.


Guests at the baraat from Jalsa included industrialist Anil Ambani, actors Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan, Kirron Kher and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.


Seven buses carrying the baraatis and Bachchan Jr arrived at Prateeksha where the groom once again got on top of the horse before riding in.


Bride Aishwarya had arrived at the venue earlier on Friday evening.


The ceremony held on the auspicious day of Akshay Tritiya climaxed three days of festivities starting from a sangeet function and the traditional mehendi ceremony.


The wedding sent the media into frenzy even though the Bachchans tried to keep the event strictly private and low-key because Amitabh’s mother Teji Bachchan is ill.


But fans did not leave the couple alone as hundreds of them lined the roads leading to the marriage venue. The police also had to briefly use batons to push back over-enthusiastic fans.


Tight security has been put in place for the function, which is expected to go on till late in the night.

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New Delhi: Home or abroad, fans will be fans. From Dubai to Toronto, Aishwarya and Abhishek's star power attract stargazers in hoards for every public appearance they make.


But then there are fans who want more than just an autograph or a photograph of the star.


Like 17-year-old Jyoti Kumari in Bihar's Gopalganj district who prepared an exquisitely embroidered red saree for Aishwarya.


A die hard fan of the ex Miss World, Jyoti's plan was to present the saree personally to Aishwarya before the wedding. Now we wonder what Aishwarya's designer Neeta Lulla has to say about that?


“Since we heard that Abhishek and Aishwarya are getting married I started planning about this saree. I have been making this saree for the past one month,” says Jyoti.


And if you think that this is a case of small town girl in awe of Aishwarya then you are wrong. Qatar-based designer MR Shaikh Sultan sold his Mumbai flats to sustain his love for designing gowns with Aishwarya on them.


“I have designs which depict Ash visiting the Taj Mahal with King Kong. Then there are some of her in the Gateway of India,” Sheikh Sultan says.


And then there are some who idolize Aishwarya in the true sense of the term.


Jaipur's father and son duo Arjun and Sunil Prajapati have their very own Madame Tussauds' going, just that their work features only one celebrity – Aishwarya, on whom 25 clay idols have been made.


“If Aishwarya puts even one of my sculptures in her drawing room then I will be truly honoured,” says Sunil Prajapati.


But it's not just Abhishek's ladylove that’s attracting all the attention, in Bihar it's the couple that they are toasting to.


Thanks to rumours, a rather enthusiastic group of fans got the couple married off by throwing a reception, just a day after the Ash-Abhi engagement.


“The moment we heard that Aishwarya was engaged, we started partying as she is our bhabhi now,” says a jubilant fan.


And if that's not all then there's a fan group that didn't need an invitation to the wedding as they had their own reception party with a car plastered with posters of Aishwarya and Abhishek!

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Collected By

Shobuz Bhai