The party season in Bollywood is on full swing and there seems to be several players, all trying to out-do each other in terms of the guest list and the fun quotient. While there are some who have been ardently throwing rocking parties over the years, there are a few who are new entrants to this group…
In the name of God
When it comes to parties thrown on the occasion of religious festivals, bashes organized by Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt come to our minds first. Salman has been celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi at his Bandra residence since many years now. A family tradition now, it was started by Salman’s father Salim Khan almost a decade back. A grand lunch is always organised post the puja where very close friends and family join the actor’s family in the celebrations. Several Bollywood big-wigs like David Dhawan, Subhash Ghai and Boney Kapoor are prominent names that feature on Salman’s guest list every year. Interestingly, before their infamous spat, Shah Rukh Khan had visited Salman's Ganesh Chaturthi parties.
Sanjay Dutt and his wife Manyata threw one of the biggest parties this year in Bollywood during Navratri. Sanju Baba’s Mata ki Chowki at his residence saw Bollywood personalities pouring in every minute. Guests ranged from David Dhawan, Raju Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rohit Shetty, Ekta Kapoor and many more. And this year, despite being heavily pregnant, Manyata made sure she was the perfect hostess.
Festive fervour
An invite for the Bachchan family’s Holi party has been one of the most sought after invitations in Mumbai. Known for their lavish spreads and day-long celebrations, the Holi celebrations however are almost extinct, since the demise of Harivansh Rai Bachchan.
Sanjay and Manyata Dutt’s Iftar parties are also an occasion where who-is-who of Bollywood rub shoulders with each other. This year, however, the party also doubled up as a promotional event for Sanjay’s then-released film. But Bollywood celebs were plenty including Kangana Ranaut, Raju Hirani, Subhash Ghai and Ram Gopal Varma. Salman’s Ganpati parties are mosty followed by his Iftar parties to break the long fast of Ramadan. In the kitchen, at Khan’s residence, several dishes are prepared that are then sent to orphanages, old homes and to friends’ and relatives’ homes.
Traditional ceremonies
When it comes to parties and gatherings on the occasion of traditional rituals like Karva Chauth, the Bachchan family rules the roost. The entire family gets out the best of their traditional fineries and plays the gracious hosts at their Juhu bungalow. Here too, very close friends are invited and the guest list saw Anupam and Kirron Kher attending this year.
This year also saw Akshay Kumar’s sister Alka Bhatia throwing a Karwa Chauth party that was attended by who-is-who of tinseltown. Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna also helped along in ushering the guests and making sure every one had a rocking time. Close friends like Sonali Bendre, Anu Dewan and Farah Khan joined in the fun.
Bollywood dominated at David Dhawan’s Karwa Chauth party as well, with Shilpa Shetty walking in as the resplendent bride. Dhawan’s old friends from tinseltown made sure that they celebrated the evening at his house. Prasoon Joshi, Sanjay and Maheep Kapoor, Raveena and hubby Anil Thadani, Anu and Sunny Dewan and Arbaaz Khan hobnobbed with each other.
Diwali Taash Parties
A trend started by Bollywood veteran actor Raj Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan took up the mantle of organising Diwali Taash parties for a few years before he discontinued for certain reasons. This year however, the Bachchans were back at it, that saw one of the biggest turn-outs of this season. The party saw the likes of Sonam Kapoor, Anupam Kher, the Roshans, Dino Morea and Akshay Kumar. Abhishek and Aishwarya, both stood at the entrance of Jalsa to personally greet the guests.
Old time friends from tinseltown like Jeetendra, Rakesh Roshan, Rishi Kapoor and Randhir Kapoor still get together to put their stakes on card games.
Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi throw lavish Taash parties too. Art director Bijon Dasgupta has also upheld this tradition since a few years but the guests who are invited are generally extremely close friends.
The entire television industry turns up for the Diwali party organised by the queen of soaps Ekta Kapoor. And naturally, shutterbugs work all night long to capture the who-is-who of tinseltown walking in to the venue. Guests ranged from Goldie Behl, Shamita Shetty, Madhur Bhandaker, Hiten and Gauri Tejwani and Aamir Ali and Sanjeeda Sheikh and many more.
Hostess with the mostest
Shilpa Shetty seems to be a new entrant with a huge potential, this season with she and hubby Raj Kundra hosting one of the biggest Diwali bashes of this year. Not only did her old friends from her filmi days attend, but Bollywood and high society were well represented. From Malaika Arora Khan to Hrithik and Sussanne Roshan, designer Rocky S, very close friends Anu and Sunny Dewan and Sanjay and Maheep Kapoor, designer and politician Shaina NC, all turned up to attend the coolest party this Diwali. In fact, Jeetendra took some time off from his daughter’s Diwali bash to attend Shilpa’s event.
Society parties
Unarguably, the biggest hosts of high society parties in Mumbai are Sunny and Anu Dewan. From parties on the eve of fashion weeks to intimate get-togethers, the Dewans have some of the biggest names from tinseltown on their guest list including Priya Dutt, Karishma Kapoor, Rani Mukherji, Preity Zinta, Shilpa Shetty, Anil Kapoor, Tusshar Kapoor, Urmila Matondkar and many more. These parties are high on fashion quotient and are much talked about in the glamorous circles of Mumbai.
Theme parties
Whether be it Halloween or Christmas, Hrithik Roshan who is also a comparatively newer entrant on the bandwagon of Bollywood hosts, knows how to do it in style. At his recent Halloween theme party, he and wife Sussanne were joined by several B'Town celebs including Arjun Rampal, Kunal Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya, Karan Johar and Ritesh Deshmukh. In fact Sussanne enjoyed the celebrations so much that she later tweeted that all her wonderful friends turning up was the perfect birthday gift she could have.
Just like that parties
Some tinseltown celebs do not need a reason to throw a bash. Ekta Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan and film-maker Sajid Nadiadwala are known to organize parties to catch up with their closest friends in the industry. Sajid’s intimate friends including Kareena Kapoor, Akshay Kumar and Twinkle, Amrita Arora, Farah Khan and Ritesh Deshmukh have always marked their presence at his private bashes. After all, the industry is where some of the most intimate relationships are born and nurtured.
So, for some serious party animals in Bollywood it's the question of 'Do' or Die!
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