The airport in Hyderabad is crowded with celebrities arriving to attend tonight's big fat Bollywood wedding at the Falaknuma Palace. The bride and groom are Arpita, actor Salman Khan's little sister, and Aayush, the businessman-aspiring actor son of politician Anil Sharma. Between them, the two families have mustered a guest list stuffed with heavyweight names from the rarefied world of showbiz and politics.
Here's a list of who's invited.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi: Personally invited by Salman Khan but is going to be a notable absentee as he's currently in Australia on official business.
President Pranab Mukherjee: Received a visit from Salman and the groom's father, Anil Sharma. There's no word on whether he will attend.
Sonia Gandhi: The Congress chief is also believed to have been invited but is unlikely to attend.
Amitabh Bachchan: Big B is invited everywhere and rarely misses a wedding. However, he is currently shooting Piku in Kolkata. It's unclear if he'll make a flying visit to Hyderabad or if the other Bachchans will attend.
Shah Rukh Khan: The famous SRK-Salman war has all but ended after Salman personally invited his Karan Arjun co-star to the wedding. SRK and Salman were spotted warmly embracing Arpita at her haldi ceremony and the Happy New Year star has said that he wouldn't miss the wedding for anything.
Aamir Khan: Much was made of Salman's invite to SRK. Aamir, who co-starred with Salman in Andaz Apna Apna 25 years ago and have remained fast friends, later said he didn't need an invite to attend Arpita's wedding, having known the Khans well for so many years.
Katrina Kaif: Katrina, rumoured to have been dating Salman once, is a close friend of the Khans and has often been pictured with Arpita and her elder sister Alvira. It's unlikely she'll miss the wedding.
Other Bollywood big names include Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone (who is, or was, shooting Piku with Big B in Kolkata) and Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor. Dharmendra and Hema Malini, longtime friends and collaborators of Arpita's father Salim Khan, are also expected to attend.
From Hyderabad, south superstars Chiranjeevi and Nagarjuna are expected to attend with their families, including Chiranjeevi's actor son Ram Charan Teja.
