India’s Katrina Kaif holds grand wedding with 100 cooks, a horse chariot, tiger safari for guests

Hong Kong-born Kaif’s wedding to fellow actor Vicky Kaushal is the latest instance of Bollywood stars taking India’s love for big, fat weddings to another level

Priyanka Chopra had an opulent palace wedding with US singer Nick Jonas in 2018, Anushka Sharma married cricketer Virat Kohli at an Italian villa in 2017, while Sonam Kapoor’s glitzy 2017 wedding cost a reported US$9 million

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Indian Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:50pm, 9 Dec 2021Updated: 7:32pm, 11 Dec 2021

From opulent backdrops to dreamy dance sequences and ultra-glamorous attire, India’s Bollywood films are known for their larger-than-life depictions of Indian weddings.

But real life has in recent years been mimicking reel life as Bollywood celebrities take the nation’s love for big, fat weddings to another level.

In May 2020, Deepika Padukone married fellow actor Ranveer Singh at the picturesque Lake Como, while Priyanka Chopra and US singer Nick Jonas had a palace wedding in December 2018.

Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas at a mehendi ceremony in Jodhpur on November 30, 2018, ahead of their wedding. Photo: Raindrop Media via AP

Sonam Kapoor and sneaker entrepreneur Anand Ahuja reportedly spent some US$9 million on their big day in May 2018, and Anushka Sharma in 2017 married cricketer Virat Kohli at an 800-year-old Italian villa.

Still, none of these nuptials have quite matched the mass hysteria generated by the wedding of Hong Kong-born Katrina Kaif, 38, to Vicky Kaushal, also a Bollywood actor.

Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal. Photos: Instagram

Ahead of the December 9 wedding, local media released minute-by-minute commentary and coverage on TV and in newspapers, while Indian Twitter exploded with trending hashtags such as #VickyKatWedding, #TheWedding, #BollywoodMarriage.