Vivek dances to Ash's tunes

It was a strictlytraditional affair. Priyanka wore a ghagra choli and Nandini wore a peachBenarasi silk saree. On the menu were Mediterranean and Italian food. Picturesof the mehndi were framed and given to the guests before they left the party inthe evening. Then came the sangeet, which ace choreographer SandipSoparkkar was appointed to choreograph. Sandip, who couldn’t stay back forthe wedding as work beckoned him to Pune, choreographed 8-9 songs for thesangeet that took place on Thursday evening for friends and family of thecouple. Diya Mirza and another Bollywood actress were supposed todance to a medley of the latest Bollywood remixes and Mehboob Mere from Fiza,respectively. But neither turned up, much to the dismay of everyone. SubhashGhai and Samir Karnik, directors of the Vivek-starrer Kisna and Kyun... Ho GayaNa? respectively, are said to have hit the dance floor. Sandip, incidentally,choreographed for Kyun..., which also starred Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Sourcesclaim that no songs from that film are being played at the wedding. However, wealso hear that the family danced to Zor Ka Jhatka, a song from the latestAsh-starrer and that they were “totally cool” about it.Vivek, not one to forget the cause he supports even during hiswedding, introduced the girls of the Yashodhara Foundation. They danced to asong from Kisna for the actor, who was dressed in a turquoise blue sherwani. TheIndian numbers were choreographed by Saroj Khan almost two months ago, when shecame to town for a workshop. Priyanka, Nandini and her sister Soniya performed aclassical dance to a Tamil song. The bride was wearing a pink-and-peach lehengawith gold gota work made by a family friend. Vivek personally interacted withevery guest there. Says designer Seema Malhotra, also a family friend of theAlvas, “Priyanka wore a blue-and-green ensemble with layers of net andorganza and a blue jewelled corset on the evening of the choti mehndi. At thesangeet, Vivek came up to me and said, ‘You made my bride look like amermaid.’ They had made her sit against a backdrop of peacock colours onthat day.” There was an hour-long audio-visual on the couple,narrating their journey from childhood till the day they met. Vivek’sfather Suresh Oberoi voiced the narration and two people enacted the parts ofVivek and Priyanka. The video encapsulated the moment VO popped the question ona bridge in Florence to an utterly bemused Priyanka, dressed in a blackstrapless gown with a white shawl, looking coy and surprised. It was a scenestraight out of a Bollywood potboiler, where Vivek, dressed in a black tux,proposed with a star-shaped diamond ring. “As part of the presentation,there were good-humoured jokes on how Priyanka rejected all the proposals shereceived, and Vivek was also in search of his soulmate. When Priyanka first metVivek, she was like, ‘Oh! These Bollywood types!’. But when VOproposed, he said, ‘I am a Bollywood type, but I love you’”said our source. At the end of the presentation, the 800 peopleinvited for the sangeet saw just how romantic VO can be as he read out a poemthat he wrote for Priyanka on how she filled his life with love. The surprisepackage of the evening? VO coming on the stage riding a bike decorated with redheart-shaped balloons. After that, they danced to Strangers in the Night and afew Bollywood numbers.Tarun Tahiliani came to Bangalore yesterdayafternoon to drape Priyanka’s red-and-gold lehenga for the wedding. Sureshis said to have commented on how beautiful Priyanka looks in Indian clothes.Priyanka, in fact, wore a salwar suit by Seema Malhotra, the first time she metthe Oberois. (With inputs from Leena Ghosh)Check out Vivek Oberoi’s homepageFollow us on Twitter for more stories