After mother-in-law Jaya Bachchan hosted a godh bharai for bahu Aishwarya Rai at Jalsa last week, on October 23 Ash's mother Vrinda Rai held one over lunch at a hotel in Bandra.
Says a source close to Aishwarya, "The godh bharai by Ash's mother was a very traditional Mangalorean one, known as baike, where the mother hosts the godh bharai for her daughter. It was a quiter one as the hotel had promised them privacy and there was no media madness. Ash's parents got the venue late on Saturday night, and they were there till early in the morning supervising all the arrangements."
Vrinda had personally taken care of the details. "Everything was elegant and tasteful. There was a troupe from the south to play Mangalorean music, while white flowers, especially jasmine, and brass urlis (ritualistic Kerala lamps made of bell metal) were part of the decor. The flowers were traditional south Indian with a strong Kerala theme. The cuisine was also from the south and had dishes from every state in the south, ranging from velli aapam, malabar parathas, prawns, egg stew, allepy fish curry, roast urlakalang, yene kathrika, hyderabadi biryani, curd rice, steamed fish and paneer in banana leaf."
The source adds that the Bollywood presence was minimal as it was a family affair. "Apart from the Bachchans and Kapoors, the only other Bollywood presence was that of Mani Ratnam, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Ashutosh Gowariker. Shweta Nanda and her family were present, along with Abhishek and his friends, including Sikander and Kirron Kher, Shrishti Arya and Sonali Bendre-Behl. Shrishti's husband Sameer and Sonali's husband Goldie are out of India shooting for their next film and couldn't attend. Ash wore a traditional pistachio green and gold Kanjeevaram saree given by her parents, while Abhishek wore a green and gold kurta-pajama. The couple looked colour coordinated and extremely happy."