At the pre-wedding bash of Mukesh and Nita Ambani’s niece Isheta, Bollywood’s finest hobnobbed with biz and political bigwigs, cheering on the Gen X as they danced to chartbusters
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 26, 2016)


Mukesh and Nita Ambani’s lavish, private bash at their home on Thursday evening was to celebrate the upcoming wedding of their niece, Isheta, daughter of sister Dipti and Raj Salgaocar, with Neeshal, brother of luxury diamond merchant, Nirav Modi, in December in Goa. Bollywood biggies brushed shoulders with politicians and business tycoons who had zipped down from different parts of the city and across the country, including Goa, Pune, Delhi and Kolkata. India’s leading businessman Harshvardhan Neotia jetted in from the City of Joy and leading lawyer Harish Salve flew in from the Capital too.


“It was one of the finest and most extravagant parties of this year. The floral arrangements were spectacular and the entrance had a studio-like set-up for guests to get clicked. The winding staircase also made for another picture perfect spot,” informed one of the guests, adding that by 9:15 pm, all the invitees were inside the ballroom, ready for the function to kick off.

All the nine Ambani children, including Mukesh and Nita’s trio, Akash, Isha and Anant, and Anil’s sons, Jai Anshul and Anmol, danced to chartbusters with Jackie Shroff, Sonali Bendre with hubby Goldie Behl, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Rajkumar Hirani cheering on.

The bar opened at 8 pm and the buffet, boasting of delicacies from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Punjab, started after the performances wrapped up and the dance floor beckoned the guests. From each hand-crafted food card to the glassware, everything had been handpicked by Nita herself.

“Usually, at any celebrity party the hosts make you feel like you should be honoured to be invited. But Mukesh and Nita are gracious hosts who only invite people they know and not celebrities they want to collect. As soon as you enter their home, you are welcomed warmly by the attentive couple,” asserts Suhel Seth, one of the guests at the bash, admitting that he only sipped on diet coke throughout the evening. “When they noticed, they insisted I have a drink. Nita goes out of her way to make every guest feel wanted in her home and that’s why everybody keeps coming back for more,” adds Suhel, a regular guest at Ambani parties.

Bride-to-be Isheta has assisted American TV host and senior journalist, Charlie Ross, before taking over as editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post in India. “Young and lively Isheta has impeccable media credentials. She makes her parents proud. Raj and Dipti are chilled out parents, and since the family is easy-going, the kids are very rooted. It’s heart-warming to see how well the present generation of youngsters gets along. The camaraderie is evident at events like these,” informs Suhel.

Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao chatted with John Abraham and his wife Priya Runchal. Aamir and Shah Rukh Khan met with warm hugs and praise for each other’s work. Sachin and Anjali Tendulkar’s son, Arjun, towered over his parents in a black suit. “He didn’t talk much and stayed close to his parents,” an onlooker pointed out. Kriti Sanon, Alia Bhatt and Shraddha Kapoor, came solo and bonded with fellow guests over wine. Akash Ambani and Raj Thackeray joined Alia, Karan and Hiroo Johar for a quick laugh about movies.

Post midnight, the guests started to stroll out. Nita personally escorted SRK to the exit, where she posed with him for the photogs, before being joined by Ranveer and Deepika. Alia kissed her Dear Zindagi co-star and Deepika goodbye before she left the venue. When SRK bid the couple goodbye and headed towards his car, Ranveer offered his girlfriend, Deepika, his hand and the two walked towards the car together. Soon they were speeding off in the direction of the actress’s SoBo home.
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Ranveer walks in holding Deepika’s hand at Ambani bash, Salman’s driver chaperones Iulia around Bandra
MID-DAY (November 26, 2016)

Looks like the Gods of gossip need to do their homework. After weeks of speculation surrounding star actor couple Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh’s break-up, the lovers put rumours to test as they walked in together for Isheta Salgaocar’s pre-wedding bash hosted by uncle and aunt, Mukesh and Nita Ambani on Thursday night.

Tongues started wagging about their relationship status a few months ago when Deepika got busy with her maiden Hollywood project, xXx: Return of Xander Cage with Vin Diesel and Ranveer was in Paris shooting for Aditya Chopra’s directorial venture, Befikre. Amid heightened speculation of a split, Ranveer started shooting alone for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s costume drama, Padmavati which also features Deepika Padukone and Shahid Kapoor. However, last week, when the actress started her Padmavati schedule with the traditional ghoomar dance number at Mehboob studios, her beau dropped in on the set to be with Dippy, leaving gossip mongers to scratch their heads in confusion.

On the other hand, buzz of Salman Khan splitting with alleged alleged ladylove Iulia Vantur have also died down after the Romanian actress was spotted at Helen’s 78th birthday bash earlier this week. Iulia, who had returned to her home country three months ago just as her visa was about to expire, subtly announced her arrival in Mumbai with an Instagram post. It was primarily a snap of a hot cuppa, but a city autorickshaw in the background was a give-away.

Sources say Iulia personally took care of arrangements for Salim Khan’s 81st birthday party at Galaxy Apartments on Thursday. Salman, along with brothers Arbaaz and Sohail, even organised a special trial of Sholay at a suburban preview theatre. The festivities went on till the wee hours and Iulia was on her toes all night, chatting up guests.

Although Iulia prefers to be by herself, Salman has his men at her service this time, lest she feels uncomfortable with the paparazzi tailing her. On Friday evening, dressed in a black dress, Iulia stepped out for a drive in one of Bhai's SUVs. She stopped at a quaint coffee shop on Bandstand for a takeaway and then took a long walk by the sea. The driver and a bodyguard kept an eye on her from a distance.