Inside Aishwarya Rai's baby shower

With her due date less than a month away, Aishwarya Rai welcomed the cream of Bollywood to the Bachchan home, Jalsa, last week, for her baby shower, which saw the likes of Neetu Kapoor, Karan Johar, Manyata Dutt and Saira Banu arrive to offer the glowing mum-to-be their best wishes.

With father-in-law, Amitabh stuck filming The Great Gatsby in Australia, his was the only A-list name not on the guestlist, with choreographer, Saroj Khan, spilling, "I have never seen so many celebrity women together!"

As crowds of well-wishers gathered outside the family's Juhu home, Abhishek, who has said of becoming a dad for the first time, "It literally still hasn't sunk in that there's going to be a child... I haven't gone into that father zone yet," appeared to thank the fans, while Ash avoided the crowds by staying indoors.

"All the women went up to Aishwarya and blessed her. Jayaji received each guest personally and was very warm," added Khan of the event. "There were a lot of songs and celebration." With Saira Banu spilling, "Aishwarya was looking like a ‘chand ka tukda'. She was looking beautiful."

With the baby's gender still not known - and rumours of twins swirling - Ash, who has kept a very low profile throughout her pregnancy, has reportedly turned down millions for an exclusive magazine deal to publish the first photos of the baby, with a pal insisting, "Ash has always been a private person and would never consider doing something like this. The Bachchans are very particular about keeping their personal lives personal and strictly guarded."