One of Bollywood’s foremost talents, Farhan Akhtar, tied the knot with his long-time girlfriend, reality show regular Shibani Dandekar, on Saturday at Javed Akhtar’s Sukun farmhouse in Khandala on the outskirts of Mumbai.
Javed Akhtar, Farhan’s father, read out a poem that he had especially composed for the occasion. Farhan was dressed in a black tuxedo; Shibani gave a western spin to the traditional red-and-cream wedding outfit. They read out vows they had written themselves.
After the wedding, the newlyweds were treated to a song by Shankar Mahadevan who sang the title track from Farhan’s directorial debut film ‘Dil Chahta Hai’, which got the guests swaying to the music, including actor Hrithik Roshan.
The guest list at Saturday’s close-knit celebration included Farhan’s ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ co-star Roshan, who was with his parents, Rakesh and Vinnie Roshan, musical trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, director-choreographer Farah Khan (who’s also Farhan’s cousin), directors Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Ashutosh Gowariker, Farhan’s creative and business partner, Excel Entertainment co-founder Ritesh Sidhwani, and the couple’s close friend, Rhea Chakraborty, who came along with her brother, Shouwik.
On the night before the wedding, Shibani’s sister, VJ Anusha Dandekar, danced to the popular track from ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’, ‘Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna’, with Reha. Farhan and Shibani had steadfastly stood by Rhea and Shouwik when they were being targeted by the media in the wake of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death.
Earlier, Shibani had shared a picture of her wedding footwear on Instagram. She wrote over the picture of her red heels: “Let’s do this.”
This is 48-year-old Farhan’s second marriage. Adhuna Bhabani, hairstylist and founder of BBlunt, is his first wife and mother of their two daughters, Shakya (22) and Akira (15).
Farhan and Shibani first met on the sets of the 2015 reality show ‘I Can Do It’, which the actor-director-singer had hosted. The two started dating soon thereafter and made their first public appearance as a couple during Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone’s wedding reception.
Pune-born Shibani, who acted in Farhan’s sister Zoya Akhtar’s 2015 film ‘Roy’, starring Ranbir Kapoor, was raised in Australia and Africa.
Shibani started life as a singer — she and her two sisters had a band named D-Major — before turning into a model and reality show regular (she’s a former ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’ and ‘Jhalak Dikhla Jaa’ participant). She was also one of the television hosts of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup held in England and Wales.
