Date:11/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/11/stories/2008101153810500.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Wedding set in ’saas-bahu’ style

Shilpa Sebastian R.

TV serials influence the look, clothes and jewellery of weddings

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

FOR A BIG FAT WEDDING: Visitors admiring the collection at the Asia Wedding Fair at The Leela Palace in Bangalore on Friday.

BANGALORE: It was almost as if one had wandered into a gaudy TV serial set: glittering set props, clothes and jewellery.

The Star Parivar Asia Wedding Fair 2008-09, launched on October 10 in typical Star TV style on Friday, unabashedly stuck to the TV serial theme.

The winding stairway to the venue at The Leela Palace is decorated as one fit for a wedding with netted drapes and flowers. The presence of Hiten Tejwani and Gauri Pradhan, the two actors from Star TV’s “Kyunki Saas Bhi…”, who had come to inaugurate the fair, amplified the impression though they were not dressed as in their small screen finery.

Big names such as Sri Krishna, Aanchal Bridal Gallery, Rodeo Drive Swiss Watch and Samyakk are part of the fair which celebrates the bright and the kitschy. The crowd loved it, of course, snapping up pricey clothes and trinkets. The jewellery section has diamonds with price tags running into crores while party wear clothes start at Rs. 17,000.

There are stalls that cater to wedding hall decorations and photographs. Boopi, from Right Click Images, beams as he explains new age wedding albums. “These days the albums come with scratch-free lamination and are UV coated. We are a part of this show because of the Star TV exposure. Weddings are a big industry today. I see 60 per cent influence of television serials on the life of the common man. This show is for those who follow these serials closely.”

The fair offers a styling studio with two designers who will give the brides and grooms-to-be tips about the fashion trends and what will suit their personalities.

Then there is the hairstyle section by Jawed Habib and makeup tips by Chambor.

Jivesh Sachdev, managing director of Introduction Trade Shows, said: “If a wedding fair is only about clothes and jewellery, then it is just like an ordinary market. A wedding fair is about clothes, personality, the look and style.

“We want to give people fashion and style.”

The fair concludes on Sunday at Leela Palace.