BOLLYWOOD NEWS

Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan have finally become engaged, setting the stage for one of the most glamorous Indian weddings in a decade

India’s hottest Bollywood couple, Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan, have finally become engaged, setting the stage for one of the most glamorous Indian weddings in a decade.

The son of the screen legend Amitabh Bachchan proposed to the former Miss World in New York on Friday and exchanged rings with her at a private ceremony in Bombay last night.

“The children have decided. We are very happy and thought we should go ahead with the engagement ceremony,” Amitabh Bachchan told The Times of India.

The wedding — to be held at a hotel in Bombay in February or March — is being hailed as a Bollywood fairytale come true and as India’s answer to the coupling of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. But in a distinctly Indian twist, it is said to have been complicated by Ms Rai’s inauspicious horoscope.

Hindu families traditionally examine a prospective couple’s horoscopes to check for marital compatibility — even among the Westernised urban elite. Ms Rai is widely reported to be manglik, meaning she was born under a poorly placed Mars that can bring bad luck and even premature death to her husband.

Before getting married, manglik women are traditionally required to go through a symbolic wedding to an idol of the Hindu god Vishnu or to a peepal or banana tree. It is still unclear if Ms Rai has been through such a ritual.

But the couple and their families have been spotted visiting Hindu temples, astrologers and priests in recent months, prompting a frenzy of speculation in the Indian media.

Rumours of the relationship between Ms Rai, 33, and Mr Bachchan, 31, emerged in February last year when his uncle, Ajitabh, met an astrologer to discuss the match.

The couple repeatedly denied that they were anything more than close friends.

But they were then seen visiting a Hindu temple with their parents in November and emerging with marigold garlands around their necks — usually a sign of engagement.

Indian media also reported that their families had offered prayers on the banks of the River Ganges at the holy city of Varanasi to help to clear up potential conflicts in their horoscopes.

Ms Rai’s previous relationships with the Bollywood actors Salman Khan and Vivek Oberoi are widely reported to have ended badly.

Mr Bachchan was previously engaged to Karisma Kapoor, a former leading Bollywood actress, in a high-profile ceremony on his father’s birthday, but they broke up before marrying.

Sunday’s engagement ceremony came two days after the launch of Guru, the latest in a string of films co-starring Ms Rai and Mr Bachchan.

Mr Bachchan placed a diamond ring on Ms Rai’s finger in front of a small crowd of friends and relatives at his beachfront home in the exclusive Juhu district of Bombay.

As news of the engagement spread, hundreds of fans sang and danced through the night outside the house and several actors, industrialists and politicians visited the couple to offer congratulations.

The green-eyed Ms Rai is considered Bollywood’s top leading lady with several hit movies to her credit, including Bride and Prejudice, an adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice. She featured on the cover of Time magazine in 2003, was named one of People magazine’s 100 most beautiful people.

But the future of her acting career is in question as most Bollywood actresses stop work after marriage, only returning to the screen to play older women. Mr Bachchan is less well known internationally, but has starred in several successful films and was voted the sexiest Asian man by a British newspaper last year.