Preity Zinta's big bash

For several weeks, there had been reports of Preity Zinta throwing a big wedding reception for her friends in the film industry. The much-awaited bash took place in Mumbai when she had a couple of days’ respite from being with her team during the IPL matches.

Preity had married Gene Goodenough, a financial consultant in LA in March. The wedding was a very private ceremony.

Manish Malhotra, the designer behind most of her looks, designed Preity’s outfit for the reception. A guest at the party said, “All the arrangements were done by Neelu and Deepankar (Preity’s mother and brother). It was a classy affair, the guests started to come in around 11 pm.

“Preity herself was meeting many of her friends after nearly two years. She had been in LA and would come down to Mumbai just for work. She looked very happy.”

Gene, too, seems to have enjoyed the big fat Bollywood bash. Another guest tells us, “His friends from US had flown down and they were excited to see a big Indian function. Many of his male friends found the women in saris very pretty and elegant.”

The big story, though, was about Salman Khan walking in with his girlfriend Iulia Vantur to the reception. A guest told us, “She stood with Salman at the party and was happy mingling with the guests. It’s not like he was introducing her to people as his girlfriend. It was kept very normal but all eyes were on him.”

While Iulia left the venue with Atul and Alvira Agnihotri, Salman walked out with Abhishek Bachchan walking just a little away from him; both actors made an exit at the same time.

The paparazzi had clear instructions not to enter the property. “It was Preity’s order to us to not let any media photographer inside,” said a security official at the venue.

The family, too, requested the guests to not take any pictures or selfies at the function, explaining the lack of inside photos from the reception.