Tis the season to be jolly, Tis the wedding season! Bollywood actors Vicky Kaushal and Katrina Kaif are tying the knot. While any wedding deserves to be celebrated and cherished, the combination of media frenzy regarding the Bollywood wedding and some absurd list of rules released by the soon-to-be-married pair has caused a serious kerfuffle in the middle.
The wedding is perhaps being touted as a big secret, presumably bigger than the secrets of Area 51 and thus we took the onus upon ourselves to compile a list of some of the most ridiculous news stories doing the rounds of the internet regarding the wedding.
Heavy deployment of police, bouncers, and iron fencing
The wedding is taking place at the 14th-century Hotel Six Senses Barwara Fort in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan. The entire fort cum luxurious hotel has been turned into an impenetrable compound. Iron fences have been put up with over 200 private bouncers guarding the wedding premises.
The village Panchayat has been charting the traffic rules around the fort in tandem with the Police, and it appears a rather monumental waste of public time and money.
No phone policy
Reports also suggest that there is a no-phone policy at the wedding and even if one carries the phone, they are not allowed to shoot or click photos, forget uploading them on social media platforms.
Be it guests, organizers, or the hotel staff, no one will supposedly have access to their smartphones. One wonders, how the wedding and catering staff would communicate amongst themselves.
Guests have signed NDAs and drones to be shot down
Moreover, if some media reports are to be believed, the guests at the wedding have signed an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) that bars them from talking about being invited, or the wedding date and venue, or even keeping in touch with the outside world while being at the wedding venue. Some netizens have termed it a Big Boss house.
Perhaps, the biggest and the most bizarre piece of news to come out of the wedding was that unsolicited drones flying around the venue would be shot down.
The netizens had a field day at the announcement, and a meme fest ensued. Shubhangi Sharma, the senior editor at TFI, suggested that the couple employs the use of the newly procured S-400 anti-missile system or the Israeli Iron Dome missiles.
Israeli Iron Dome should be made available for private purchase pic.twitter.com/xmTPCtf9lg
— Shubhangi Sharma (@ItsShubhangi) December 4, 2021
Adding to the bizarre arrangements, the guests at the wedding have been given a code by the event management company. Only guests and the event management company know about this secret code. This code has been put before the room they are supposed to stay in so that no guests are able to find out who else has come to attend the wedding and who is staying here.
While the couple appears to be gunning for full privacy, a report in Pinkvilla.com suggests that the couple has been offered a whopping amount, Rs 100 crore, by an OTT platform for footage of their wedding.
Salman Khan’s bodyguard handling the security
Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif have had a long personal history over the years. Salman introduced Katrina in the industry and at one time, they both dated as well. However, media reports state that Salman or his family haven’t been invited to the wedding.
While Salman Khan prepares a rendition of ‘Channa Mereya’ in solitude according to unverified sources, his personal bodyguard Shera and his security team, Tiger Security will be guarding the big Six Senses Fort.
Earlier, a meeting was held to discuss the security issues and crowd management at the wedding venue, and the Sawai Madhopur district collector’s letter had gone viral.
Media and its unhealthy obsession of worshipping Bollywood actors
The media outlets have gone berserk and are reporting every minute detail out of the wedding. From the timings of the Haldi to Mehendi ceremony, the media is not missing out on any single unimportant detail.
Some have even reported that the mandap where Kaif and Kaushal will allegedly circle the sacred fire will be made out of glass, while tents have also been specially ordered from Mumbai, which will be installed inside the hotel.
Meanwhile, a Jagran report states that Vicky will be making a grand entry with his Baraat on a horse but on a bigger scale. Reportedly, the groom will be chauffeured by seven white horses.
Moreover, clickbait articles are being circulated to garner the all-important ad clicks. One of the articles by India Today used an old video of Vicky Kaushal where he was seen shouting a slogan from his movie, ‘How’s the josh’. Katrina was in the same frame in the video and the clickbait media spun it around as, “Shy Katrina Kaif looks away from camera as Varun, Ranveer ask Vicky Kaushal ‘How’s the Josh”
Then there are news outlets like ‘The Print’ which are carrying news stories with headlines like “Vicky Kaushal and Katrina Kaif have pulled off the greatest Bollywood ‘heist’”
Vicky Kaushal and Katrina Kaif, a pairing as unusual one would have ever seen have invited the media glare for obvious reasons. Kaushal is one of the hot commodities in the industry, still basking in the glory of Masaan and Uri, while Katrina’s relationship status has always intrigued the yellow page media outlets.
However, the entire circus around the wedding of two individuals has once again showcased the plummeting standards of Indian journalism. The sheer lunacy in publishing unsubstantiated stories and trying to hype up the wedding when it affects a tiny minority of the population is astounding. The media could have channeled its energies in a better direction and on much more pressing issues but perhaps Bollywood takes precedence. Anyway, we wish the newly married couple the best.