Exclusive: What did the nuptials of India’s celebrity favourite wedding filmer look like?
Inside Vishal Punjabi and Nikki Krishan’s 100-guest affair at the dreamy Amanbagh in Ajabgargh, Rajhasthan
Vishal Punjabi is no stranger to the saga that is the big fat Indian wedding. After all, as one of India’s most celebrated wedding filmers, he has been on duty at over 500 of them. “Witnessing countless couples get married, I always wondered if my turn would ever come,” admits Punjabi who is the man behind the wedding films of everyone from Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli to Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh.
When Cupid did decide to strike, Punjabi’s own love story felt like something out of a movie. The year was 2021, and fittingly enough, he met his now-wife, periodontist Nikki Krishan, at a wedding. Punjabi aka The Wedding Filmer was in the UK to shoot a couple’s big day, when the sister-of-the-bride aka Krishan came out to help him park his car. “There was a gush of wind and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was playing on the radio. I am not being dramatic, but it really was like a scene from a movie,” reminisces the groom. “I was meant to be there for two days, and ended up staying a week,” says the hopeless romantic. “We both felt something we had never felt before,” adds the bride.
After a long-distance courtship, Punjabi popped the question to his lady love at Triyuginarayan Temple in Kedarnath, where folklore has it that Lord Shiva married goddess Parvati. The couple sealed the deal with an intimate civil ceremony in London last summer. But the festivities would have been incomplete without a traditional Indian celebration, complete with the roller-coaster of emotions that Punjabi is so well-known for capturing through his lens.
There was only one condition. Punjabi did not want it to feel like work. “We wanted the wedding to be intimate and deeply personal,” says the couple. Cut to the 100-guest affair at the dreamy Amanbagh in Ajabgargh, Rajhasthan earlier this week. But before the destination celebration, came the soulful events at home. The festivities started with a mehendi at The Wedding Filmer’s bougainvillea-clad studio in Mumbai, for which the couple dressed in matching pink outfits by Akanksha Gajria. Punjabi’s kurta was embroidered with whirling dervishes, a motif deeply personal to him, and are an element in all his films.
The next day was a ‘Holi and rain dance’ haldi. “We had rain machines and a water tanker. It was like a monsoon sequence straight out of a movie, to bring in a touch of my Bollywood past,” says Punjabi, who previously worked with Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment, and even shot the popular wedding sequences in Deepika Padukone-Ranbir Kapoor starrer Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013).
Once in Jaipur, the celebrations blended the couple’s Sindhi and Punjabi heritage into a spiritual celebration. The sangeet and jaggo ceremony were hosted by the pool, and transitioned into an unplugged jam session by the fire, where the groom serenaded his bride, aided by his musician friends. The couple were dressed in The Delhi Vintage Co, with the bride’s outfit made from handwoven tribal fabric from Kutch.
The next day started with a chooda ceremony, following which the couple exchanged vows in the hotel courtyard. “We did not want a mandap or elaborate structure, just an open sky for blessings to rain down on us,” smiles the groom.
The duo chose Manish Malhotra for this picture-perfect moment—him in a white achkan with chikankari trousers, and her in a Banarasi brocade lehenga with a Sanskrit shloka embroidered on the veil. Hari & Sukhmani took over the stage at the after-party, for which the couple switched gears to edgier ensembles by Arjun Saluja.
Having been in the business of weddings for 15 years, Punjabi knew exactly who he wanted to work with to make this dream celebration come to life. From his planner to his performers, the groom shared a personal connection with everyone. Punjabi’s friends, Tina Tharwani and Saurabh Malhotra from Shaadi Squad, planned the wedding. “Soon after I met Nikki, I remember calling Tina and telling her, ‘I am going to marry this girl. And when I do, you will have to plan it,” recalls Punjabi. “And this was truly a full circle moment because I filmed Tina’s wedding only a few months ago.” Ditto with designer Akanksha Gajria, and Krishan’s make-up artist Riddhima Sharma, whose weddings Punjabi filmed himself. Most of Krishan’s jewellery was by Renu Oberoi, who is not only married to Punjabi’s close friend, but also designed Krishan’s engagement ring.
