A set resembling a rainforest, a 30,000 square foot pandal, lots of jewellery and designer clothes -- this is not the description of a big-budget Hindi film, but of preparations for the wedding of industrialist Prakash Hinduja's daughter Renuka tomorrow.
"The theme of the wedding is that of a rainforest and the entire house and its surroundings have been designed that way by famed art designer Bijon Das Gupta. Even the entry to the house has been designed to give an effect that one is entering a forest," sources said here.
Hinduja's youngest daughter Renuka will tie the knot with Swiss lawyer Olivier Cadavini on Sunday. Renuka, a senior associate with law firm Altenburger, is based in Geneva.
Several VIP guests including former Prime Ministers, eminent politicians, Chief MInister Vilasrao Deshmukh and the cream of the city's glamour brigade are expected to attend the wedding reception on Sunday evening.
"While the actual ceremony will be a simple Hindu ceremony, attended by close family and friends, there will be a reception held at a suburban five star hotel in the evening, where several VIP guests are expected to arrive and security will be Z plus," the sources added.
The mandap for the wedding ceremony is over a whopping 30,000 sq ft area and has been designed on the theme of a "temple in a forest".
"The brief given to us was that the mandap should look like a temple in a forest. To create the look we used plaster of paris, jute, wood and and other materials. It took us a month to create the 30,000 sq ft mandap," Safdar Karmali who was in charge of the project said. The Hindujas are among the richest Asians in the world, with a business spanning several continents. While the elder brothers Srichand and Gopichand are based in London, Prakash is based in Geneva and Ashok lives in Mumbai.
The wedding ceremony will take place in the sprawling family residence Param Jamuna. Food served will be strictly vegetarian, but from cuisines all over the world and India.
For ceremonies preceding the wedding, such as the mehndi and sangeet, some of India's best performers, including percussionist Sivamani and actress Ayesha Takia will perform for the guests.
Tight security has been put in place both around the Hinduja residence and the venue of the reception later in the evening.
--- PTI