The pre-wedding reception of Mohak Nahta, son of your editor and television host Komal Nahta, and Dikshita Khullar, on 7th March in Bombay at Taj Land’s End, Bandra was a grand affair. Such was the traffic jam that evening at Bandra that it seemed as if all roads in Bombay were leading to Taj Land’s End. The invitees braved the traffic snarls and made it to the event to wish the couple-to-be. As director, choreographer and television host Farah Khan remarked on reaching the venue, “Phew! I took 40 minutes from Mannat (Shah Rukh Khan’s bungalow) to the hotel. That was some traffic jam!” For those who do not know, the distance takes 30-60 seconds to cover in normal circumstances!
Bollywood turned up in full force, dressed for the occasion. The men came in designer suits while the glamorous actresses shone in classy designer wear. The first to arrive was filmmaker-actor-singer Farhan Akhtar who rushed out after spending some time with the hosts and the couple as he was himself hosting a special show of his Boong for VIP guests at Excel Entertainment’s Lightbox that evening. The flow of celebrity guests just didn’t stop after Farhan Akhtar’s arrival. Stars, producers, filmmakers, writers, music directors, lyricists and technicians rubbed shoulders with one another. While most of them were escorted on to the dais to wish the couple, there were some like Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Abhishek Bachchan and Fardeen Khan who preferred to stand in the queue for their turn to come to wish Mohak and Dikshita.
Among the guests who attended the pre-wedding reception were (in alphabetical order): Aamir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, producer-distributor Aditya Chowksey, director-choreographer Ahmed Khan, exhibitor Ajay Sinh Chudasama, producer Ajit Kumar Barjatya, Alekh Sangal, Ali Asgar, Ali Fazal, director Amit Sharma, producer-distributor Anand Pandit, Ananya Panday, writer-director Anees Bazmee, exhibitor Anil Chanchlani, Anil Kapoor, Anita Raaj, producer Ankur Garg, director Ankush Mohla, Anu Malik, producer Apoorva Mehta (Dharma Productions), producer Arjun Singh Baran (GSEAMS), Aruna Sangal, dubbing studio owner Ashim Samanta, Ashish Saxena (BookMyShow), producer Ashish Singh, exhibitor Ashok Chanchlani, producer Ashok Thakeria, filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker, television producer Asit Modi, financier Bharatbhai Shah, still and fashion photographer Avinash Gowariker, Bhavana Panday, Bimal Parekh (CA to many industry people), Bobby Deol, Boman Irani, Boney Kapoor, publicity agent Brij Mittle, Chitrangda Singh, Chunkey Panday, Darshan Kumar, filmmaker David Dhawan, editor Deepa Bhatia, Deepak Seth (Rajasthani film actor), Denzil Dias (Warner Bros.), Daya Nayak, producer Deepshikha Deshmukh, Devang Sampat (Cinepolis), distributor Devendra Shah, distributor Dilip Dhanwani, Dilip Joshi, Divya Khosla, Ekta Kapoor, Fardeen Khan, director-choreographer-TV-host Farah Khan, Farhan Akhtar, Farida Jalal, Ganesh Jain (Venus), writer duo Garima-Siddharth, Genelia Deshmukh, Girish Johar (Zee), producer Gordhan Tanwani, Gulshan Grover, distributor Guru Shenoy, distributor Hafiz Nadiadwala, distributor Harish Janiani, Hasmukh Shah (Gold Cinemas), producer Himanshu Mehra, Himesh Reshammiya, Hrithik Roshan, Huma Qureshi, producer-director Indra Kumar, Ishaan Khatter, Jaaved Jaferi, Jackie Shroff, director Jaideep Sen, curator Jaspinder Singh, Javed Akhtar, producer-distributor Jayantilal Gada, Jeetendra, Johny Lever, director Jyotin Goel, Kabir Bedi, Kamal Gianchandani (PVR), producer Kamal Mukut, Karan Johar, Kartik Aaryan, producer Kartik Nishandar (GSEAMS), producer-director Ketan Desai, Kiran Juneja, Kubra Sait, lyricist Kumaar, producer and music company owner Kumar Taurani, producer-director Luv Ranjan, filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, producer Mahavir Jain, Maheep Kapoor, producer Manish Goswami, Manjari Fadnis, Manoj Bajpayee, producer Manoj Chaturvedi, Manu Rishi Chadha, producer-director Mehul Kumar, filmmaker Milap Zaveri, producer Monisha Advani, filmmaker Mudassar Aziz, Mugdha Godse, Mukesh Khanna, Mukesh Tiwari, producer Murad Khetani, Murali Sharma, distributor Murli Chhatwani, Namit Malhotra (DNEG), distributor Nandu Ahuja, producer-distributor Narendra Hirawat, Neena Gupta, Neha Dhupia, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Nikhil Dwivedi, Niraj Sanghai (DNEG), Nishit Verma, Nushrat Bharucha, director Om Raut, Padmini Kolhapure, Pankaj Tripathi, Parvin Dabas, writer Pathik Vats, producer Pawan Kumar, Poonam Dhillon, Overseas distributor Pranab Kapadia, CBFC chairperson and lyricist Prasoon Joshi, Preeti Jhangiani, Prem Lakhani (Rajhans), Prit, Pulkit Sood (Shemaroo Contentino), dubbing director R.K. Joshi, Rahul Dev, producer-actor Rahul Mittra, politician Raj Thackeray, producer Rajeev Chaudhary, Rajkumar Hirani, Raju Vasani (Paras Publicity), Rakesh Roshan, filmmaker Ram Madhvani, filmmaker Ramesh Sippy, producer and music company owner Ramesh Taurani, Rameshwari, Ratan Jain (Gold Cinemas), Ratan Jain (Venus), producer Renu Chopra, Ritesh Deshmukh, Rohan Malhotra (YRF), Rohit Saraf, Rohit Verma, Rupali Ganguly, Sachin Pilgaonkar, exhibitor Sachit Jain, producer Sajid Nadiadwala, Salman Khan, Sameer Chopra (Reliance), music director Sameer Sen, Sanjay Bhandari (CA to many industry people), producer Sanjay Bhattacharji, producer Sanjay Chaturvedi, Sanjay Goradia, director Saurabh Varma, Shaad Randhawa, Shabana Azmi, Shahid Kapoor, writer Shaktimaan, Shanaya Kapoor, Sharang Sharma (Jio), producer Sheel Kumar, producer-distributor Shreyansh Hirawat, Shreyas Talpade, writer Shridhar Raghavan, Siddhant Chaturvedi, distributor Siddharth Goenka, director Siddharth P. Malhotra, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Smita Bansal, television producer Snehal Vyas, Soni Razdan, filmmaker Sriram Raghavan, Subhash Chandra (Zee), Subhash Ghai, producer-director Suneel Darshan, producer Sunil Hingorani, Sunil Shetty, distributor Sunil Udhani, producer Sunit Jawadekar, producer-director Sushama Shiromanee, Sushant Singh, producer T.G. Vishwa Prasad, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Tiger Shroff, distributor Tolu Bajaj, Tusshar Kapoor, producer Tutu Sharma, distributor Uday Singh, playback singer Udit Narayan, Umesh Kumar Bansal (Zee), writer Vibha Singh, Vicky Kaushal, producer-director Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Vidya Balan, choreographer Vijay Ganguly, Vijay Varma, film agent Vikas Sahni, Vineet Kumar Singh, Vinod Nichani (Showbizz), Vivek Krishnani, distributor Yusuf Shaikh, Zarina Wahab and Zoya Akhtar. Quite literally, the ‘A’ to ‘Z’ (except ‘Q’, ‘W’, ‘X’) of the film industry were present.
Aamir Khan, who came with friend Gauri Sprat, spent a lot of time at the reception. He interacted with other Bollywood celebrities and left the venue saying, “We had such a lovely time. Was hanging in the Ballroom with everyone. Got to catch up with so many people. Everything was so beautiful.” Aamir wished the couple “a long, happy, healthy, prosperous, exciting, adventurous, fulfilling, and loving life together”.
The marriage ceremony will be held on 15th March in Udaipur.
The reception, which started at 6.30 p.m., went on till after 1 a.m. the following day. No sooner were pictures and reels of the event uploaded on social media than the reception became the talk of the industry with many dubbing it as one of the most memorable wedding receptions ever. The Nahta family looked after the guests who appreciated the arrangements, hospitality, food and decor.
The decoration was done by Gaurav Karia (Saffron Celebrations). The event planner was Rajiv Zaveri (Expert Management And Hospitality Pvt. Ltd.). The official photographer was Hemal Raichura.