Ash-Abhishek to be Bollywood’s Numero Uno Couple

Finally, it is out. After weeks of speculation about the relationship between the two superstars, and what could be termed Bollywood’s worst kept secret, the star couple of Abhishek Bachchan, son of Bollywood megastar and acting legend Amitabh Bachchan, and Aishwarya Rai, former Miss World, have got engaged. The wedding is slated to happen later this year, Aishwarya’s manager Hari Singh announced on Monday.

“Yes, it is true. Abhishek and Aishwarya are engaged. The wedding will definitely take place this year,” Singh said. The announcement puts to rest months of speculation regarding the romance between the star couple. The news of their supposed romance and possible engagement has been the staple news item for quite a while now in India.

The speeded-up plan is apparently partly due to the failing health of Abhishek’s grandmother, Amitabh’s mother Teji Bachchan. She is keen on seeing the couple tie the knot as soon as possible. Amitabh Bachchan said, “The children have decided (to marry). We are very happy,” Amitabh Bachchan told the Times of India.

Abhishek and Aishwarya were engaged in front of a small circle of family and friends on Sunday, one of the most auspicious days in the Hindu calendar. Abhishek apparently popped the question to Aishwarya in New York after the premiere of Guru there.

While the senior Bachchan said that a date had not yet been fixed for the wedding, a report in the Times of India said the wedding would happen as early as February or March. News channels and newspapers even went so far as to say that February 19 and March 7 were possible dates being considered. The Bachchans have booked a top luxury hotel in Mumbai for the event, fuelling rumors of an early wedding.

After the engagement was announced, fellow stars streamed into the Bachchan household, Jalsa, till the wee hours of Monday morning to offer their congratulations. Fans gathered in front of the household and danced and sang on the streets throughout the night.

The couple, Abhishek (31) and Aishwarya (33) has acted together in a number of movies. Their latest movie, Guru, has opened to appreciation all over, and is running to packed houses. The movie was also the first Hindi movie to premiere in Canada. Other movies the two have acted together in include Kuch Na Kaho (Say No More), Dhai Akshar Prem Ke (Two and a Half Words of Love), and Umrao Jaan, a period drama.

Abhishek is currently one of the hottest stars in the Bollywood circuit, having acted in over 40 movies, and comes from blue blood in the Hindi film industry. His father Amitabh Bachchan was India’s first “angry young man”, and is considered a living legend in Indian films. Aishwarya moved to the film industry after being crowned Miss World in 1994, and has acted in over 30 films.

For Abhishek, it is a case of second time lucky. He was earlier supposed to marry Karisma Kapoor, another Indian popular actor from a highly pedigreed movie family, the Kapoor family, in 2002. However, the marriage was called off. Aishwarya, on the other hand, has been romantically linked to Indian movie stars Salman Khan and Vivek Oberoi at different stages of her career.