Itishree Misra (BOMBAY TIMES; May 20, 2017)

Swara Bhaskar is all set to play a wedding planner, in real life, for her elder brother Ishaan Bhaskar. The wedding, scheduled in March next year, will be held in Lucknow, the hometown of the bride Bhoomika Joshi. “Bhoomika and Ishaan have been seeing each other since many years. They met in England where they were both studying. Now Bhoomika is an academician doing her PhD in Yales, America,“ informs an excited Swara. “Since Bhoomika is from Lucknow, my mother suggested that hum bhi apne saare functions Lucknow mein hi kar lete hain. So we will have five days of celebrations in March when the wedding is scheduled. Right from the sangeet, mehndi of the bride's side and the wedding ceremony too,“ she adds.

Ask her how come she is playing wedding planner for her elder bro and she laughs. “Because I am so excited. Bhai ki shaadi is really exciting. My mother was slightly busy so I told her ki main saara intezaam kar lungi,“ says Swara. The actress further adds, “In fact bhai ne bola ki 'why are you preparing for it from now?', but then I said shaadi hai, sab cheez tie-up karne mein time lagega.“

Meanwhile, Swara has already asked one of her friends in the railways to book three compartments of a train for the baraat to travel from Delhi to Lucknow. “Train mein baraat le ke aane ka apna alag hi mazaa hai. It's all going to be a very Tanu Weds Manu kind of shaadi where the whole family will travel in a train for the wedding. Hamare saath dhol wale bhi honge and there will be a DJ too, who will play and all of us will dance. It's going to a be huge celebration. Aur haan, we will also decorate all the compartments with gende ke phool,“ she gushes.

From booking the venue to doing the recce in Lucknow and organising mehndi and sangeet ceremonies, Swara wants to leave no stone unturned to make her brother's marriage an affair to remember. Taking time out from her busy schedule, Swara has already visited a few places in Lucknow and she will be personally planning each function. “I want a heritage kind of place for the wedding. So I am looking at a heritage hotel in the city. We are planning to have the main wedding there and of the other functions, a few at Bhoomi's place and rest elsewhere,“ says Swara, who also tells us that the wedding reception will be in Delhi, where her parents stay.