JOIN USSandalwood’s power couple Yash and Radhika Pandit tied the knot at a private ceremony in the city on Friday, with their family and close friends in full attendance. Senior actors from the Kannada film industry such as Shivarajkumar, Puneeth Rajkumar, Sudeep, V Ravichandran and Raghavendra Rajkumar were present for the wedding.
If the wedding ceremony and the elaborate arrangements for it were not grand enough, the two-day reception on December 10 and 11 at Palace Grounds is said to be even grander.
The reception on December 10 will be exclusively for family, friends and VVIPs from the film and political fraternity and the reception on December 11 is open to the public and fans of both the actors. The security arrangements for both the days have been beefed up. “About 400 bouncers have been hired for both the days and more than 300 police personnel will be deputed on duty in and around Palace Grounds. Special passes have been issued and people will be allowed to enter the venue only after producing these passes. This has been done to ensure that no uninvited people walk in,” informs Yash.
A source close to the couple says, “About 7,000 people are expected on December 10 and more than 12,000 people are expected to gather on December 11 when members of the fan’s association of both the actors are expected to collect in large numbers.”
The arrangements for the reception are very elaborate with over 100 varieties of dishes and over 20 sweets. Yash says, “We want to concentrate on treating our guests well and making sure that everyone returns happy and content. In fact, I have invited everybody from the first person of the state to my assistant boy. Everybody will be treated equally,” he says.
Talking about the menu, Radhika says, “The lunch after the wedding will have the best of South Indian dishes served on a plantain leaf. The menu for the reception has been designed around the theme of royalty and will have dishes from across the
country. There will be one particular dish from every city in the country.” The Taj Group of Hotels will be catering for the reception.
Radhika’s attire for December 10 has been designed by Sabyasachi. “I will be wearing an elaborately embroidered burgundy coloured ‘lehenga’ which has been made in keeping with the theme of ‘Royale’ and Yash will be in an outfit of the same colour designed by Manish Malhotra,” says Radhika. She adds, “Everything from our outfits for the evening to the props will be colour coordinated. The theme for our engagement was blue and white. The wedding will have a different colour and feel altogether.” Radhika and Yash have opted for a traditional look for the reception on December 11.
The guests will be treated to a lot of entertainment as well. The highlight of the evening will be a live performance by violinist Aneesh Vidyashankar, popularly known as the ‘wireless walking violinist’. Aneesh says that he has put together popular Kannada songs and will be playing a mix of English, Carnatic and Hindustani instrumental music. “I will be performing songs from movies in which Yash and Radhika have acted such as ‘Mr and Mrs Ramachari’ and ‘Santhu Straight Forward’, in addition to some popular Kannada songs of Dr Rajkumar.”
He adds, “I will perform and lead the couple onto the stage rather than have them walking up by themselves. I will also be walking around and playing the violin which is what I am known for.”