Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan geared up for a three-day wedding party Wednesday amid tight security to ward off over-zealous fans. The festivities startinged with an evening of elaborately choreographed song-and-dance routines in Mumbai where two seaside residences in the upscale northern suburbs have been turned into virtual fortresses.

Only 100 guests have been invited to the wedding, and more than 500 police are expected to be on hand to keep out gatecrashers.

A legion of private security guards are manning the gates of the two homes, with entry only for workers and personnel with bar-coded passes and must make their way in through metal detectors.

Rai, 33, is a former Miss World. Bachchan is the 32-year-old son of screen legend Amitabh Bachchan.

The nephew of late Pakistan musical king Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was to sing at the "sangeet,".

Rai was pictured practicing a dance number earlier this week, according to media reports, for a performance expected to be worthy of a Bolllywood film.

Huge efforts had been made to shut out the media. The Bachchans had asked the owners of neighbouring buildings not to allow photographers and television crews to shoot from roofs and balconies, reports said.

The main gates of Bachchan's residence were completely mirrored so fans trying to peer inside would see only their refection.

The sangeet ceremony that kick-started revelries for the Abhishek Bachchan-Aishwarya Rai wedding saw starry guests like Ajay Devgan and Preity Zinta, and a colour theme of purple and blue at the Bachchan residence Prateeksha in Juhu here.

The ceremony between 9.00 and 9.30 p.m. on Wednesday saw close friends of the Bachchan family being escorted in by security personnel.

The A-list of guests who attended the ceremony include Anil Ambani, Subroto Roy, Amar Singh, Krishna Raj Kapoor and Ajitabh Bachchan.

According to sources, the rituals were performed at Prateeksha itself as the Bachchans want it to be a small affair since Teji Bachchan, Amitabh's mother, has been ailing for the past 10 months.

Impatient fans outside Prateeksha were on the verge of hysteria.

Megha Joshi, a fan who has come all the way from South Africa for the wedding, said: "I am hoping to see them just once."

The 19-year-old, who met the stars in South Africa at the shooting for "Dhoom 2", said: "We could not speak to them or get an autograph as the security was tight, but we shook hands."

"I have got a card and a gift for them that I hope to give them after the hustle and bustle of the marriage is over," added Megha, who has been waiting outside Prateeksha for hours to get a glimpse of Abhi and Ash.

On the second day of celebrations Thursday a henna ceremony will be held at Rai's house.

The wedding ends Friday with a traditional parting of the bride from her parents in a palanquin.

The guest list includes major Bollywood players such director Yash Chopra and filmmaker Karan Johar, as well as industrialist Anil Ambani, whose father built the country's biggest listed firm, Reliance Industries.

Bollywood heartthrob Shah Rukh Khan -- seen as a younger rival to the elder Bachchan in the popularity stakes -- and Rai's ex-boyfriend, the actor Salman Khan, have not been invited.

Speculation is also rife that Abhishek's childhood friend and co-star Hrithik Roshan is not invited for the wedding of the year. The reason reportedly being that Junior B was completely overshadowed by Hrithik's Greek god looks and acting prowess in the recent hit "Dhoom 2".

India's powerful Gandhi family, led by ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi, had been invited but is unlikely to attend, having reportedly fallen out with the Bachchans over politics, reports said.