Esha Deol and Bharat Takhtani at their wedding June 29 at the ISKCON temple in Mumbai

Esha Marries Bharat in Lavish, Star-Studded Ceremony

In typical “band baaja baraat” style, veteran Indian actors Hema Malini and Dharmendra’s daughter Esha tied the knot June 29 with businessman Bharat Takhtani in a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony.

The Bandra-based groom came to the venue on a white horse before the couple took the marriage vows around a sacred fire.

Wearing a Kanjeevaram saree, Hema and her husband Dharmendra, looking dapper in a suit, welcomed the groom at the temple.
Esha and Bharat got married in South Indian style at the ISKCON temple in Juhu here.

Esha, too, was clad in a red and gold Kanjeevaram saree, sourced from Chennai for the wedding day by her mother, to which designer Neeta Lulla had made some changes.


The couple had been dating for quite some time and had exchanged rings Feb. 12 this year.

The wedding was the climax of three days of festivities that included a sangeet, haldi and mehndi ceremony.

Besides family members like sister Ahana and Abhay Deol, several B-town celebrities were present at the occasion including Amitabh Bachchan with son Abhishek, Manoj Kumar, Vinod Khanna, Vyjayanthimala, Ramesh Sippy, Fardeen Khan, Poonam Sinha, Madhoo, Anu Malik, and designer Neeta Lulla and her daughter Nishka.
Their reception took place June 30 at the five-star Hotel Lalit drew still more personalities from the film and political worlds.


Deol siblings Sunny and Bobby were  conspicuous by their absence at the grand wedding reception  hosted by their half-sister Esha and her husband Bharat Takhtani at a five-star hotel here June 30. When asked about the absence of Sunny and Bobby, Esha’s father, Dharmendra, said, “It is our personal matter.”

 Dharmendra married Esha’s mother, Hema Malini, in 1980 without divorcing his first wife Prakash Kaur, the mother of Sunny and Bobby Deol.

Among the glitterati who attended the reception were  veteran actors Dilip Kumar and his wife Saira Banu, Jeetendra,  Rekha, Zeenat Aman, Salman Khan, besides Tusshar Kapoor,
Sanjay Khan, Vidya Balan, Madhuri Dixit and her husband Dr. Sriram Nene, Sushmita Sen, Tabu, Kajol, Sridevi and her  producer husband Boney Kapoor.
Actors Fardeen Khan, Anupam Kher with wife Kirron,  Shamita Shetty, Mandira Bedi and business tycoon Subrata Roy  also graced the occasion.  Politicians of all hues including L.K. Advani, Sushma  Swaraj, Chaggan Bhujbal, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Narayan Rane,  Amar Singh, Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray attended the
event. 

Sridevi, Kareena to clash at box office

Mumbai: Sridevi's comeback film English Vinglish will clash with Kareena Kapoor's much talked about Heroine at the box office as both the films are coming out Sep 21. The former's producer R. Balki is unperturbed.

Both are women-centric films - but after much deliberation, English Vinglish co-producers Balki and Eros Entertainment have decided to stick to the original release date.

While English Vinglish is directed by Balki's wife, Gauri Shindi, while Madhur Bhandarkar wielded the shot for Heroine.

"We believe every film, no matter what the gender of its protagonist, has its own audience. I am sure Madhur Bhandarkar's film (Heroine) will be very exciting. But the prospect of seeing Sridevi again is equally exciting," said Balki.

Having had his say, Balki is now ready to move into the shadows, and "let the two ladies have their say".

"I have done what I had to. I'm just the film's producer. Now it's up to Sri and Gauri to take the film to the audience," he added.

Interestingly, English Vinglish has a cameo by Bollywood's Amitabh Bachchan and he did it free of cost.

"With Amitji, I wouldn't dare to discuss money," said Balki, who For NDTV Updates,

directed the megastar in Cheeni Kum and Paa.

Spotted: Bipasha Basu and Rana Daggubati

Bipasha Basu was seen with Rana Daggubati at a Pali Naka restaurant over the weekend. The Bong bombshell and the South hottie were deep in conversation over dinner.



And were oblivious to people around them. Bips in a white tee and jeans was looking ekdum garam and Rana looked yummy! They were the free sizzlers that I hadn't ordered!



Sridevi and Boney Kapoor visited the Tirupati temple recently to seek blessings for her Bollywood comeback project. Check out Boney, he looks like a pucca south Indian in his mundu.

Guess who's back after 14 years? | Sridevi

Sridevi, who returns to the screen with Gauri Shinde's English Vinglish, tells Sunday MiD DAY what it's like to face the camera after 14 years and work with a woman director --a first in her career Sridevi, who was meant to make a comeback with Mr India 2, will instead return to the screen with Gauri Shinde's English Vinglish, after a hiatus of 14 years. Work on the film will begin on July 7. Shinde, ad man Balki's wife, will be Sridevi's first woman director. A chat with the diva about her return: What prompted you to do a film after a 14-year gap? The credit goes to the script and my director. When I heard the script, I fell in love with it. I hope it turns out well. Have the preparations begun? Yes! We've already started working on costumes and the look -- we've selected the sarees. Gauri Shinde will be your first woman director. That's true. I've never worked with a woman director before. When I met her there was so much positive energy between us. You're famous for giving great performances in a number of awful films. (Laughs) I did what I had to do. I'm a director's actor and I just do my work honestly, enjoying what I've done. Did you miss the film industry while you were away? No, I loved spending time at home, raising my children. Besides, being a producer's wife, how can I ever be away from the industry? I never felt disconnected. Why are you looking so thin these days? Is that a bad thing? I want to be slim and healthy. Am I looking too thin? My daughters are very health-conscious. I'm succeeding in making Boney (Kapoor, her husband) eat healthy too. Judaai was the last time you faced the camera. Yes. It's been a while since I faced the camera. I'm nervous and excited. My children and husband are excited about the comeback. Do you want to keep your daughters away from Bollywood, since it's a hard life? No matter which profession you are in, you have to slog. Nothing comes easy. Cut to 2004 Meri Biwi ka Jawaab Nahin was released in 2004. In the film, Sridevi fights her husband Akshay Kumar's evil boss. The immensely forgettable film was made in the '90s but was released later. The 1997 Judaai was the last film for which Sridevi shot.

Sridevi, Amitabh to pair-up?

There has been a rumour of Sridevi's comeback for many months now. But neither the filmmaker nor the actress was ready to confirm the news.

Until now.
For the first time, R Balki confirms that Ms Hawa Hawai is making a comeback in his wife Gauri Shinde's directorial debut this year. And she might also be paired in Balki's own directorial venture with Big B.
Balki believes in placing Big B in challenging combinations with screen divas (Tabu as his sweetheart in Cheeni Kum, Vidya Balan as his mom in Paa) has solved the dilemma of how to accommodate the two larger-than-life stars together. In Gauri's film, Sridevi plays a housewife who sets out to find her own identity. She has a much more challenging role opposite Big B.

Speaking for the first time on his wife's film, Balki says, "Yes, Sridevi will star in her film. And yes, I'm doing another project with Mr Bachchan. Like Cheeni Kum and Paa it is again an audacious idea that we are both hugely excited about. Will my film too star Sridevi? Why not? But at the moment it's too early to talk about the casting of my film."

Sri-Big B diaries
The two were earlier paired together in the 1980s hit T Rama Rao's Inquilaab and in the 1990s in Mukul Anand's Khuda Gawah. Most producers shied away from pairing them together as they were seen to be individually too big in their stardom to be accommodated together. In fact Yash Chopra wanted to cast Big B and Sri together in Veer-Zaara. But the pairing didn't work out.

Bebo to pay tribute to Sridevi

Kareena Kapoor is busy rehearsing matching her steps to Sridevi's dance numbers. Well the actress is going to perform at the Balaji Awards tomorrow.

Getting into Sridevi's dancing shoes is indeed a tough job. Kareena is seen sweating it out at the rehearsals these days.

According to a source, Bebo will be seen sporting looks that Sridevi sported in her films and dance numbers. Designer Manish Malhotra has designed her costumes for the act at the Balaji Awards.

Hope Bebo doesn't get cold feet as dancing Diva, Sridevi will be watching her keenly at award function.