Happy days are back again at Sania's house

Hyderabad: Finally, celebration mood seems to have set in at Sania Mirza's house here after a bitter row over her planned wedding with Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik came to an end.

The Mirzas and the Maliks are now busy preparing for the 'Sangeet' ceremony to be held on April 13, in which all the loved ones of the couple will participate.

The two wanted to get married on Friday itself but were forced to push it back to the original date of April 15 due to legal hassles.

With controversies dying down, it appeared that good mood has set in the Mirza residence with the two families joining in for a game of 'antakshari' and enjoying home-made Chinese delicacies on Friday night.

The house will be illuminated soon to create a wedding atmosphere, a spokesperson appointed by the Mirzas told reporters today.

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Shoaib's mother, brother, sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew are already in the city. A few more members of the family are expected to arrive from Germany shortly.

"Last night, the two families played dumb charades and antakshari. Chinese cuisine, which is also a favourite food of the bride and the groom, was made by her aunts and served for dinner," the spokesperson said.

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"Sania was in the mood for some 'bhelpuri' outside but having been locked-in by the media, she had to remain content by eating it at home. Her cousins and sisters helped her to get it from a local shop," she said.

"The day ended with a game of carrom," she added. The wedding invitations are in the process of being distributed and around 1000 guests are expected for the reception to be held on April 15 evening.

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Ever since they announced their wedding, the couple had been hounded by the media over Shoaib's first marriage. A Hyderabad girl, Ayesha Siddiqui, alleged that Shoaib married her over phone in 2002 before dumping her without a divorce due to her weight problems.

Shoaib initially denied the allegations and claimed that Ayesha duped him into a phone marriage by sending photographs of a different woman. The all-rounder, however, finally agreed to divorce her after community leaders intervened.

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Ayesha had filed an FIR against Shoaib alleging fraud and criminal intimidation which led to the cricketer's passport being confiscated by the police. The FIRs have been withdrawn after Shoaib agreed to divorce Ayesha.