— PHOTO: AFP

RIDING A TRADITION: Amitabh Bachchan leads his son and groom Abhishek Bachchan, dressed in traditional attire and riding a horse with a young boy as part of a pre-nuptial ritual as he leaves his home Jalsa in Mumbai on Friday ahead of his marriage to actor Aishwarya Rai.

MUMBAI: Amid tight security, popular Bollywood actors Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai were married on Friday at the Bachchan residence in Juhu.

The police had to resort to a mild lathicharge as hundreds of fans broke through the barricades to catch a glimpse of Abhishek as he rode on a decorated mare into his residence "Prateeksha" where his bride-to-be waited for the ceremony. The wedding ceremony was the culmination of three days of festivities.

Traffic in the Juhu area came to a virtual halt as the barat, the wedding procession, moved from the new Bachchan residence "Jalsa" to "Prateeksha" where the wedding ceremony was conducted.

Hundreds of media representatives and fans fought to catch a glimpse of the bridegroom and his baratis, who included industrialist Anil Ambani, Subroto Roy of the Sahara Parivar, Samajwadi politician Amar Singh and several film actors and celebrities.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh also arrived to attend the wedding. Aishwarya's family, including her father and brother quietly entered "Prateeksha" earlier. The barat was accompanied by dancers doing the Bhangra and by a local band that belted out popular Hindi songs.

Preparations were going on till about 4.30 p.m. with simple marigold decorations being hung on the sides of the residence.

Private security men as well as personnel from the Mumbai police were manning traffic and driving the enthusiastic fans away.

Fans had parked themselves in a pandal across the road, on treetops and even on hoardings and information boards of the nearby buildings.

What seemed to be a manageable crowd went completely out of control as soon as the procession went inside the house and the police resorted to a mild lathi charge. Hundreds of people tried to jump on the media barricade to catch a glimpse of the Bachchans and the array of celebrity guests.

The guests included Shammi Kapoor, Ajay Devgan, Sanjay Dutt, Riteish Deshmukh, Dimple Kapadia, Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia, Sachin and Anjali Tendulkar.

Earlier during the day, the events around the wedding took a backseat when a model-cum-actor Janhvi Kapoor tried to commit suicide in front of the Bachchan residence. She told the media that Abhishek had already married her and that they had met and were in touch since the film Dus which was released in 2005.

However, as there were doubts cast on her identity, marital status and as her relatives confirmed her marriage and divorce to another person, she was placed under arrest for attempting to commit suicide under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code.

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