M A I N   N E W S

Aishwarya to dine with top cops
Rashmi Talwar

Amritsar, October 5
Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai today looked ravishing in a bright pink suit as she danced with her on-screen hubby-to-be Martin Henderson in the wedding scene of her sister in the film, Namrata Shirodkar, and Naveen Andrews for the Indo-British production ‘Bride and Prejudice’ amid tight security.

The police put up road blocks and barricades at the site of the shooting as people stood on rooftops of nearby houses to watch the shooting. A number of altercations with the production hands occurred as onlookers were curious to have a look of the actress.

The marriage palace where the shooting started early this morning was buzzing with a host of junior artistes who posed as the wedding crowd till late in the evening. Namrata wore a golden ‘lehnga’ and her sister in the film, Meghna Kothari, wore a peach dress while their ‘mother’ Nadira Babbar wore a white and gold dress and ‘father’ Anupam Kher wore an embroidered kurta pyjama. A scene of children dancing was also filmed, in which two local girls figured.

Mr Parvesh Sahni, production in charge and PR manager of the unit, said Aishwarya had accepted the invitation for an early dinner with policemen on the invitation of the IG (Border). Most of the city’s senior officials and SSPs of other police districts, along with members of their families, were invited to the dinner. Ghazal singers Sajjad Khan and Rajesh Sobti of the hotel where she was staying were busy preparing for a rendition of the ghazal ‘Albella sajan aayo re’ from her film ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’.

A ‘machan’ (high platform put up in fields) was also being readied at Chhiddan village, about 17 km from here, for a scene in which Aishwarya would be shown in the misty fields atop the ‘machan’ similar to the scene in the film ‘Taal’, said Mr Prince, first assistant to the producer, who had finalised all locations in and around the city. The scene would be a romantic song featuring Aishwarya, Henderson and Kher. The shooting would be done in lush green fields adjoining a farmhouse.

Meanwhile, the Citizens’ Forum took strong exception to the police and the administration going gaga over the filmstars and neglecting the city. Mr Brij Bedi, president, said while top officials were busy arranging parties and get-togethers with the filmstars, the city’s policing had come to a standstill, with the occurrence of major traffic blockades and non-registration of cases on the basis of serious complaints.