'Big Fat Indian Wedding' Redefined

The phrase "big fat Indian wedding" will take on a new definition with the over-the-top arrangements being made for the wedding of Jr. NTR to Lakshmi Pranathi, a relative of TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu, at 2:41am on May 6th.

The 'kalyana mandapam' in HITEX was erected at a cost of Rs. 18 crores, and it is the outcome of the labour of more than 200 people. The gold-and-red marriage space was designed by cine art director Anand Sai, and comprises 5 canopies.

With over 5,000 fans of the young actor attending the wedding, parking space has been arranged at the HITEX railway station, and air-conditioned Volvo buses have been hired to ferry the guests to the venue of the wedding.

Just about anybody who is anybody is expected to attend the mega wedding tonight. The sheer number of VVIPs expected at the ceremony makes it a huge security event, with 1,000 police personnel brought in to maintain order at the event.

Gate-crashers can throw their schemes out the window, for 150-odd bouncers have been arranged to man the entrances and control the crowds.

A song penned by Vasanth, composed by Arjun and sung by Geetha Madhuri and Krishna Chaitanya will be played throughout the 4-hour-long wedding ceremony. The song is at present being used as the background music for the reports of the marriage on all TV channels.

The dinner spread is guarenteed to be scrumptiously traditional. Around 2,000 cooks have been preparing the dishes for the wedding since Thursday morning. Various traditional dishes are being prepared in Nellore, Guntur and Tirupati and East Godavari.

12,000 oligas, the sweet-dish that is a part of every auspicious occasion in Andhra, are being ferried in from Anantapuram.

Uday Bhaskar Sharma, a specialist from Kothapet, East Godavari, has been hired to supply 240kgs of panasa pottu koora (a dish made of jack-fruit), and 70 kgs of dosa-avakaya (a variety of mango pickle - no Andhra meal is complete without pickle).

Rama Reddy, a huge fan of Jr. NTR, has sent the decorated tender coconuts (a major prop for a wedding) that will be carried by the bride and the groom, with their names written on them.

Jr. NTR has usually managed to work the name (and the face, if possible) of his grandfather, the original N T Rama Rao, into every movie he acted in. Why then would he leave the legend, out of his wedding preparations? The wedding cards, each of which is worth Rs. 3,000, resembles a family photo album, with a picture of NTR and his wife gracing the front page.

Jr. NTR has always stated that he is a person who conforms with traditions, and keeping his word, he will be seen wrapped in a simple but elegant pattu pancha. Lakshmi Pranathi, however, will be seen wearing a Rs. 50 lakhs Kanchipuram saree.

Well, here's hoping the married life of the couple is as lustrous as the elaborate wedding preparations.