This week was all about the grand wedding of politician and film producer T Subbarami Reddy’s grandson, Anirudh with Neha Reddy at Hyderabad International Convention Center (HICC). The extravagant wedding affair began on Friday with a star-studded sangeet, which also had AR Rahman fly down to perform live for the celebrities and other guests. Anil Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha and Nara Lokesh were spotted among the 2,000 plus guests. The celebrations continued till Sunday when Anirudh looking handsome in an orange embroidered sherwani paired with gold dhoti pants by Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla - tied the knot with Neha who was radiant in a golden Kanjeevaram sari. Popular actors like Chiranjeevi, business tycoons and politicians including KT Rama Rao, Jairam Ramesh and Nara Lokesh were present at the wedding to bless the couple.
On the other end of the city, socialites put on their dancing shoes and headed to the launch party of the all-new club, Snort. The evening saw many who’s who of Hyderabad including actors Swati Deekshit, Sreedhar Rao, Sadhna Singh, Sirisha Mulpuru, Siva Balaji, Aadarsh Bala Krishna and Allari Naresh, who were grooving to the songs played by Mumbai-based band Shuunya. From the food section, I loved their Mutton Biryani and the special pasta counter.
Movie lovers were spotted at the screening of the much-awaited Bollywood film, Sanju. Organised by Bajaj Electronics and non-profit organisation Roundtable at Forum Sujana Mall, the screening was to raise funds for the education of children.
Saturday was about some soothing music at Jashn-e-Talat, a special multi-performance tribute to the legendary Indian singer Talat Mahmood at Salar Jung Museum. The line-up for the evening was curated by his grandniece Sahar Zaman and supported by Shadan Institute of Medical Sciences. Ghazal maestro Tauseef Akhtar performed the singer’s popular song from Dekh Kabira Roya, while Radhika Chopra had the audience humming to Dilip Kumar-starrer Footpath. Former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin was the chief guest for the event. Also spotted were senior politician Syed Adnan Salem, industrialist Lagadapati Rajagopal and his wife Janaki, Abdul Samad Mirza, and other IAS Officer, who were seen enjoying the musical evening.
Meanwhile, the city’s young P3Ps headed to By The Bay in Necklace Road to cheer for their favourite teams in the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2018, while listening to city-based band Eternity’s enthralling music. The night that started with light instrumental tunes, later moved on to fusion, followed by Bollywood numbers. The breeze by the lakeside only added to the fun weekend.
(The writer is an animal lover, solo traveller and the founder of Touch a Life Foundation)