Inside Pakistani celebrities Hamza Ali Abbasi and Naimal Khawar’s wedding

Pakistan’s most eligible (read chronic) bachelor Hamza Ali Abbasi finally tied the knot with lady love Naimal Khawar on Sunday, August 25. It wasn’t one of those extravagant destination weddings of our favourite film and TV celebrities that we’ve seen in recent times. Not that it was expected to, but Abbasi and Khawar’s big day turned out to be a simple and graceful affair.

Held famously at Monal, in Pir Sohawa, one of Islamabad’s most popular hill resorts, the nikah ceremony was mostly about whites — everyone from the bridegroom to the friends and family members were dressed in shades of ivory; and even the place was decked in gorgeous white gladioluses and lilies. Abbasi was sporting an off-white shalwar kameez which he paired with a pale yellow, self-print waistcoat; while Khawar donned a golden, heavily worked gharara and lots of jewellery to match.

The bride and groom looked really into each other — they were holding hands, and chatting, and laughing. Later, they were also spotted posing for a selfie.

The nikah was attended by the couple’s immediate relatives and close friends only. Prominent among these were Abbasi’s ‘Maula Jatt’ director Bilal Lashari, pop singer Atif Aslam, Senator Faisal Javed, and actors Gohar Rasheed and Usman Mukhtar. Rasheed also became one of the witnesses in the nikah.

The season’s most talked about wedding, which had kicked off with a ‘mayun’ last week, culminated in valima on Monday. It also laid to rest all gossip and discussion about Abbasi that had been trending on social media.

Abbasi is not new to trolls, though. His strong views on social issues have often landed him in trouble with the educated elite of the country. He has been called conservative, a born-again Muslim, and so on. And, when he became associated with Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) — the country’s ruling party — and also began hosting a political talk show on TV, he fell further afoul of the twitterverse.

Interestingly, his love life never really came under the radar until very recently, when fans of Abbasi were taken by huge surprise following the internet leak of his wedding invitation. It went viral, and suddenly it seemed everyone had the right to judge and comment, especially on why Abbasi had been discreet about the wedding thus far. Some even rapped the actor, who had just returned from the Hajj, for “dating,” a concept they said is alien to Islam. That Abbasi took to social media to end all speculation and declare his marriage with Khawar, is history now.