It is very unlikely that Hello magazine will gain exclusive (and heavily paid) entry into the Abhishek-Aishwarya wedding. Yes, there is an elaborate and traditional Sangeet, but it is equally unlikely that there will be cricket match played between an Abhi XI and Ash XI.

And it most unlikely that Ash's father-in-law will charge her or Abhishek for giving him a royal ignore at the cermonies!

In fact, the Bachchans and the Rais have throughout been very sober about it all and are brushing aside all the unnecessary hurley-burly which we were forcibly witness to at Liz and Arun's nuptials in February.

But, of course, the media circus has begun and thank God and Tirupathi that we have to wait just another day for the wedding tomorow. Though, if you know the Indian movie-mad population, this will hardly be the end of the celebrity coverage to end all coverages.

The reigning queen of Bollywood and the international face of Indian cinema, former Miss World (1994) Aishwarya Rai, 33, marries Abhishek Bachchan, 32, the son of Bollywood screen legend Amitabh.

They started with just 20 (which in no time of course turned into 200) handpicked guests for traditional Hindu ceremonies over three days before April 20 at the sprawling compound of Amitabh Bachchan and his actor-turned-MP wife Jaya in the Mumbai beach suburb of Juhu.

Dignified ceremonies, as always with the Bachchans, have been planned by the religious-minded Amitabh Bachchan, 65, described as the "uber-god of the Indian cinema -- Tom Cruise, Sean Connery and Clint Eastwood all rolled into one" by an Australian newspaper.

Amitabh's mother Teji, who is critically ill in hospital but desperate to see her grandson married, there is this all-important reason to maintain strict privacy. Invitees have been sworn to secrecy and the Bachchans have appealed to neighbours not to allow the paparazzi into their gardens or roofs to take photos.

It is anotehr matter that many of the neighbours are themselves enraged about the assault on their own privacy because of the Abhiash wedding.

Last night, a 500-strong police force was deployed around the compound and roadblocks set up on all approach roads to keep the media and fans away, some of the fans have actually come down from other cities just for this once-in-a-lifetime "sight-seeing visit".

So restricted is the guest list that even Sonia Gandhi and her children Rahul and Priyanka, have not been invited, though there are other reasons for that.

Earlier, excited -- and, as it turns out, entirely misplaced -- speculation in the British media had suggested that the Abhiash nuptials would be far bigger, far more lavish, far more glamorous and take in far more former diamond-studded maharajah's palaces than the Hurley affair.

To be fair, the Bachchans and the Rais have done their utnost to maintain sobriety. But for the Indian population this wedding is far bigger, far more lavish, and far more glamorous than 10 Hurley-Nayars put together.

Four-page wedding invitations -- with the couple's initials "AA" on the cover and signed by the Bachchan family and the stars -- have been sent to a select group of friends with boxes of chocolate meringues. A traditional, hand-embroidered sari with intricate gold embroidery has been prepared for Aishwarya by her favourite Indian designer, Neeta Lulla.

The compound and its outsides are thoroughly "secured" and looks like a fortress, with police armed with metal detectors every security precaution has been taken. Scores of fire extinguishers have also been placed in the vicinity.

The festivities began yesterday with the traditional Sangeet, or music ceremony, during which relatives of the couple sing and dance. The mehendi ceremony will take place today, after 18kg of special henna was flown in from Rajasthan to draw patterns on Ash's hands and feet.

The couple will be tied in knots, so to say, tomorrow sunset, at an auspicious moment. The reception, expected to be on a lavish scale, has been planned later in a Mumbai hotel and as soon as the couple ties up their individual assignments, they will cosy up on a honeymoon, which should be expectedly exotic. -