Mumbai, April 19: The countdown to the wedding of Bollywood hottest star couple Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai began here last night with a glittering sangeet ceremony where Amitabh Bachchan personally welcomed the family of the bride-to-be at the gate of his residence `Pratiksha' here. Mehendi ceremony will take place today at Aishwarya’s Bandra residence.

To the beat of drums and Bhangra dancers, Amitabh welcomed Krishnaraj and Vrinda Rai, parents of Aishwariya, at the gates of his house in suburban Juhu yesterday.

Industrialist Anil Ambani, attired in kurta and pyjama, accompanied the superstar in welcoming the Rais.

Donning a white crystal-studded kurta, Amitabh smiled and chatted with the Rais as he folded his hands in a traditional welcome.

A scuffle broke out between the gathered media and the security personnel as shutterbugs tried to get their best shots.

Several celebrities from the world of films and politics attended the Sangeet ceremony.

I would like to dedicate the title track of  to my parents because I think that’s how my parents have brought me up,” says Rani Mukherjee reminiscing her childhood days.  The actress says that the film reminded her of her parents who faced the same situation years ago. “My mother has always smiled through life’s problems. She has never shown any signs of us going through hard times. The kind of commitment that my mother had for the family, or my father had for us, just bound us together and it made us overcome all the obstacles.”

Speaking about the film Rani says, “This movie is about a family that faces trials and tribulations and bounces back. Just have hope and faith in yourself. My role is of a girl who is the strength of the family. She’s a mother and a wife, who holds the entire family together like every Indian woman, who basically binds the family with strength, courage and love.”  Rani and director Siddharth Anand have been childhood friends. “It has been a lovely experience. I fondly call him Sid. It was tough for me to accept him as my director but now that I have done the film with him I know Siddharth knows his art well,” says Rani.

They said Sridevi was very shy and a quiet person off the screen, but before the camera she would undergo a complete transformation and light up the screen with her inimitable style.

Here comes another actress who Bollywood can add to the "switch-on switch-off" league of performers. It’s Esha Deol we’re talking about.

Surprised? The unit of Ram Gopal Varma’s Darling isn’t. The moment the camera rolls Esha effortlessly blends with her character, transporting everyone to a different world.

And as the director shouts "cut", she goes back to being her usual unassuming self. Bollywood surely needs more of her kind.

Tejaswini Kolhapure is proud that she was part of a short film that is doing the rounds of all major film festivals including Cannes. Salt & Pepper, directed by Mohinder Pratap, touches upon the sensitive issue of farmers who committed suicide because they were unable to pay their debts. “The film has also found a place in the prestigious Cannes festival magazine,” Tejaswini informs smiling.

Tejaswini plays the character of a young girl who is on the brink of committing suicide because she has been ditched by her boyfriend. Tejaswini says, “She is all alone and is about to kill herself when somebody suddenly enters her home. First, she thinks that it must be a thief who has come to rob something. But when she encounters the stranger, she learns that he isn’t a thief and that he has come to the city to find work. Additionally, he hasn’t had a meal for days. Forget food, his village hasn’t even had free-flowing water. It is over her conversations with him that she realises that people face far larger issues and that she was being a fool by ending her life over a man who was not even worthy of her loyalty.”

Koena has finished shooting a major part of Ananth Mahadevan’s Anamika.  “The reason why I am excited about the film is because the look that I have in the film is very different. It is very Indian. Also on Mahadevan’s suggestion I have kept my makeup to the bare minimum. I have donned simple salwaar-kameezes in the film. The film has been shot in real palaces of Jaipur andRajasthan, and the look is in complete sync with the ambience of the film. I am glad that Mahadevan visualised me in that part. Anamika is one of the films I am looking forward to.”