DEEPIKA OR PRIYANKA: BIG BOLLYWOOD WEDDING CLASH

By Asjad Nazir.

WILL DEEPIKA OR PRIYANKA WIN THE SOCIAL EVENT OF THE YEAR?

THEY may have a mutual respect for one another, but make no mistake, there will be serious competition between the upcoming weddings of Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra.

The world will be watching to see everything from their outfits to the venues and star-studded guest lists. Although both will be winners because they are marrying the men of their dreams, Ranveer Singh and Nick Jonas, respectively, each of the A-list actresses will have some fairly big advantages in their quest to have the Bollywood wedding of the year.

Fabulous first: Deepika will get a head start and grab all the headlines, because her wedding will take place on November 14 and 15, more than two weeks before Priyanka ties the knot. Although having her wedding second means Priyanka will know what to beat, all eyes will be on Deepika as she is starting the build up to her big day. Doing it first feels better.

Privacy: Having a destination wedding in Lake Como, Italy, means Deepika will get a lot more privacy and less outside interference, whereas Priyanka’s will be held in Jodhpur, India. Both will plan various ceremonies, but Deepika will get a lot more privacy and will enjoy more peaceful surroundings.

Setting: Although Deepika will have picturesque surroundings, she will be following in the footsteps of Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli, who got married in Italy 12 months ago. So Priyanka has a more unique setting at a Jodhpur palace along with culture, history and a regal surrounding, and it will be grander.

Outfit: It looks like Deepika will be wearing a wedding gown created by celebrated designer

Sabyasachi and Priyanka will have one made by Manish Malhotra. Both designers will be under pressure to deliver, but most fashion experts think Sabyasachi does bridal wear a lot better.

Guest list star power: Although Priyanka’s secret weapon, the Duchess of Sussex, may not attend because she is pregnant, there will likely be stronger star power at her wedding, with celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood present. Meanwhile, Deepika will likely have more family and friends at her private ceremony, with a small sprinkling of A-list stars.

Social media: Priyanka and husband-to-be Nick have a stronger collective social media following and are far more active, so they will get more online heat. Deepika and Ranveer are reportedly banning phones at their wedding to prevent any photographs being leaked, but that won’t stop the social media posts.

Media coverage: Both couples will generate a lot of media interest, but Priyanka will get more global attention because she is better known internationally and of course, is marrying an American celebrity. If the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are there, that coverage will be even bigger.

Reception: Deepika and Ranveer are planning two receptions, one in the southern Indian city of Bangalore (Deepika’s home town) and the other in Mumbai, but they will be just a few days before Priyanka’s wedding. This means Priyanka’s events will largely overshadow their receptions. Priyanka will have one reception in Mumbai and perhaps another in the US at a time when no other big events are happening, in late December, so all eyes will be on her.

Overall, it looks like Deepika will get her dream of having a private ceremony in the company of close family and friends, while Priyanka is likely to get her wish of getting a much grander wedding that receives global attention. So both will be winners.

BOSS 12 IN BIGG TROUBLE

THE producers of Bigg Boss 12 have tried everything to

spice up the reality TV show, including having last year’s

winner Shilpa Shinde entering the house recently.

But the truth is this year’s contestants are the weakest

bunch in the 12-year history of the show and host Salman

Khan doesn’t have the star power of before. In fact, the actor looks bored and as if he has just turned up for the pay cheque. Unless there is a revamp, the Indian version of Celebrity Big Brother could be heading the same way as its UK counterpart and get axed.

DUA’S INDIA EXPERIENCE

POPULAR British singer Dua Lipa was holidaying in India recently with her boyfriend Isaac Crew and shared a number of great photographs from there.

She fully immersed herself in the local culture, including wearing a bright blue embroidered sari at the Ganesh Temple in Jaipur. She wrote: “A lady outside the temple helped me and taught me how to put on my sari before I entered. We joined in with the locals and offered

sweet treats to the gods and the people inside.”

The places Dua visited included Ranthambore, Goa, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kerala.

APU OUT OF THE SIMPSONS

PRODUCERS of The Simpsons are writing out Apu Nahasapeemapetilon following a 2017 documentary

(The Problem With Apu) which argued that the animated Indian character was a racial stereotype. Despite having one of the best writing teams on TV anywhere in the world, producers behind the legendary comedy series decided

to get rid of Apu instead of dealing with what were justified

points of view. There is plenty they could have done, but many, including me, believe they took the coward’s way out.

ARE ARJUN AND MALAIKA AN ITEM?

THERE have been rumours swirling around for a while that Arjun Kapoor, 33, is in a secret relationship with 45-year-old Malaika Arora, who officially got divorced from Arbaaz Khan last year.

Now perhaps the most unlikely couple in Bollywood look like they are ready to go public with their relationship after a holiday together in Europe recently. Arjun was spotted

partying with Malaika at her birthday bash and photographed with her close friends. Although there are talks of marriage, Arjun had told me earlier this year he is definitely not

ready to get hitched for another couple of years.

BHAIAJI NOT LIKELY TO BE A SUPERHITTT

ONE of the most cursed Bollywood movies of recent years, Bhaiaji Superhittt, is due to finally hit cinemas on November 23, but don’t be surprised if the release date gets changed again. The sure-shot box-office disaster will be an illustration of how far lead stars Sunny Deol, Preity Zinta, Amisha Patel and Arshad Warsi have fallen since their glory days. I think

to save face, they would have been better off releasing the film straight to a streaming

site like Amazon.

MINDY: LOVE AND LIFE

WRITER and actress Mindy Kaling’s interesting TV adaptation of iconic British film Four Weddings And A Funeral is going full steam ahead and should premiere on Hulu next year. The cast of the series, which she is

also producing, includes Jessica Williams, Nikesh Patel, Rebecca Rittenhouse and John Reynolds.

The plot, as expected, involves personal crises, love and scandals revolving around four weddings and a funeral.

SINEAD’S FAITH IN ISLAM

AFTER years of turmoil and public meltdowns, charttopping singer Sinéad O’Connor seems to have finally found peace in life by converting to Islam. The 51-year-old received a lot of support after sharing a photograph of herself in a headscarf

and announcing that she had changed her name

to Shuhada’ Davitt.

SAIF FAILS AT BOX OFFICE

THE big question was whether the global success of TV drama Sacred Games would resurrect Saif Ali Khan’s Bollywood career?

Unfortunately for the actor, Bazaar continued his shocking run at the Bollywood box office and was another sign that his time as a bankable movie star was over. His first movie release after the Netflix series received mostly average reviews and had a low opening in

cinemas last week.

This is another in a long line of loss-making films that the actor has starred in. Producers of his forthcoming films will be worried and others are unlikely to offer him big projects.