The Hindu : Karisma marries childhood friend

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 30, 2003

National

National

Karisma marries childhood friend

MUMBAI SEPT. 29. The Bollywood actress, Karisma Kapoor, tied the nuptial knot with her childhood friend and Delhi-based businessman, Sanjay Kapur, here today at a high-profile wedding attended by film personalities, politicians and industrialists.

The ceremony, as per Punjabi tradition, took place at Deonar Cottage, the home of Karisma's grandfather, the late Raj Kapoor, in Chembur. Sanjay, who works in his father's auto parts business, is a divorcee, while Karisma was earlier engaged to the actor, Abhishek Bachchan.

Karisma is currently starring in the television series Karishma — A Miracle of Destiny, the broadcast of which was delayed by a suit filed by the American author, Barbara Taylor Bradford. The writer said the series plagiarised her book, A Woman of Substance. Bradford lost the case and the series began to be telecast started this month.

The Kapoors, referred to as the "first family" of the Mumbai film industry, were present in full strength. The men wore crisp white dresses and traditional headgear and welcomed the guests. The groom, dressed in an off-white `sherwani', arrived around 12.45 p.m. with the `baraatis'. A security cordon was thrown around the venue to keep off gatecrashers.

The actors, Akshaye Khanna and Govinda — who has starred with Karisma in the maximum number of films — were among those who arrived early. The bride's father, Randhir Kapoor, was supervising the arrangements.

The Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, Chhagan Bhujbal, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs, Vinod Khanna, the Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Vijay Goel, the former cricketer, Azharuddin, and his wife, Sangeeta Bijlani, the industrialist, Rahul Bajaj, the lawyer, Mahesh Jethmalani, and the Congress MP, R. Subbirami Reddy, were present. The actors, Rajesh Khanna, Jackie Shroff, Vivek Oberoi, Salman Khan and Venkatesh, the actress, Sridevi, and her husband and producer, Boney Kapoor, and the actress, Poonam Dhillon, were there. Members of the Bachchan family were not present.

Karisma's trousseau was designed by Manish Malhotra. The marriage was solemnised in the afternoon and was followed by lunch, where more than 100 dishes were served. Since morning, there were traffic jams on almost all roads leading to the Kapoor home. Police said more than 12,000 cars were parked on the nearby roads.

Colourful bands welcomed the guests and the `baraatis' danced to Punjabi songs. Photographers and television crews were relieved when Randhir Kapoor escorted the couple outside the bungalow for a photo opportunity.

`Wedding of the decade'

The British press described the happening as the `Bollywood Dream: An Arranged Marriage' and it was given half-page coverage by The Times with a four-column photograph of Karisma. The report had details of the wedding, including the fact that one of Karisma's aunts (Neetu Singh) had "famously fainted at her own wedding".

The report brought up the issue of why Karisma's engagement with Abhishek Bachchan broke. The Times said that "less than a month before the Valentine nuptials, the marriage was called off" because of Karisma's mother who, it claims, was uneasy about her daughter's alliance with a "failed star". The English press appeared surprised that despite Bollywood films being marked by nudity and sex, the "wedding of the decade" was celebrated in the "most traditional union of all: an arranged marriage".

It noted that the pair, Karisma and Sanjay, had broken the mould for Bollywood stars "who have generally taken advantage of their freedoms outside the prevailing social norms to marry a partner of their choice". — UNI, AP

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