Wedding bells for Bollywood belles

The age-old notion that Bollywood actresses shy away from marriage seems to be fading away. While quite a few weddings have been solemnised in B-town this year, a handful seem to be getting ready to get hitched in the near future.

Also low-key, close knit family affairs seem to be gaining precedence over the otherwise, big-fat Indian wedding. Early this year actor Imran Khan tied the knot with Avantika Malik in a private ceremony in the outskirts of Mumbai.

TV actor Rajeev Khandelwal recently tied the knot with long-time girlfriend Manjiri Phadnis with minimal B-Town presence. Actor Vivek Oberoi tied the knot with Priyanka Alva early this year while actor Sameer Dattani also tied the knot with his long-time girlfriend recently.

Actress Lara Dutta married tennis star Mahesh Bhupati in a private ceremony in Goa, where one saw a select few Bollywoodians in attendance. The marriage was a three day affair with a day reserved for the sangeet, a day for the traditional wedding and another for a traditional Church wedding. Recently, actress Gul Panag stunned everyone with the news of her marriage to former classmate and airline pilot Rishi Attari. The duo got married as per Sikh rituals in a Gurdwara in Panchkula, in the presence of close family and friends.

Theatre and TV personality Juhi Babbar too exchanged wedding vows with TV actor Anoop Soni early this week. The duo had been discreet about their relationship and very few people knew that they had tied the knot. Sometime last year, actress Kim Sharma who had an on and off relationship with cricketer Yuvraj Singh tied the knot with Africa-based businessman named Ali Punjani. The ceremony was a hush-hush event that took place in Mombasa, Kenya.

Actress Celina Jaitley has been in the news recently for her relationship with a Dubai-based Austrian businessman Peter Haag. The actress, say sources, is ready to take the plunge and will get married to Peter on September 23 in Egypt, where his family is based.

Actress Soha Ali Khan, who has been going steady with actor Kunal Khemu, also plans to tie the knot soon. Her actor brother Saif Ali Khan who has been dating Kareena Kapoor has also expressed a desire to get married but not in the near future. Reportedly, actress Katrina Kaif too had earlier said that would want to get married and settle down by 2012, while Rani Mukerjee too has said that her next step in life would be marriage.