Hyderabad, April 14: Mehndi (rasm-e-hina) ceremony took place at tennis star Sania Mirza’s residence on Tuesday, as the glam couple came in from Hotel Taj Krishna, where their wedding had taken place on Monday.
Sania in a resplendent pink dress and Shoaib Malik in an emerald green kurta were welcomed by Sania’s parents, as relatives from both sides gathered at the Mirza house.
Mehndi takes place one or two days prior to the wedding day. The event is traditionally held separately for the bride and the groom, and henna is symbolically placed on the couple’s hands.
City’s famous henna artists Bhavana and Sandhya were called to apply exotic Arabic mehndi. “She wanted a mix of Mughalai and Kashmiri patterns. The styles are not as minute. They have enlarged curvy floral designs with thick outlines,’’ said Bhavana.
Sania’s PR manager promptly came out in the evening to give the latest on the happenings in the Mirza household. “Designed by Shantanu and Nikhil, Sania and Shoaib’s outfits have come from Delhi,” she said besides announcing that Hyderabadi cuisine is being served to the guests with Shahi Tukda for the dessert.
Sania’s aunt has organised some Dholak geet followed by a performance by the city-based Marfa Band.
On the other hand, rehearsals for sangeet continued and friends and relatives gathered for a final session before the actual event on April 14. The newlywed couple have also trained for a special salsa performance for the sangeet. Sania is supposed to wear a green or yellow dress.
Sania’s uncle Talat Aziz will render ghazals for the sangeet. He will be arriving on Wednesday evening with his wife and is learnt to have composed a special ghazal for Sania and Shoaib.
According to sources, “Sania’s good friend and model-turned-actress Rakshanda Khan is likely to perform at the sangeet. Imran Mirza is trying to invite Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi to the reception on April 15
–Agencies