Madhuri flashes charm- and Dr Nene on arm

Madhuri flashes charm- and Dr Nene on arm
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

MUMBAI, DECEMBER 18: The Dream Girl of the nineties could not have asked for a better way to begin the next millennium. Flashing deep red invites designed by none other than M F Hussain, guests drove into what was arguably Bollywood's filmi party of the year. Dressed in a peach ghagra-choli and radiating her trademark thousand-watt smile, Madhuri Dixit flanked by her beaming husband Dr Sriram Nene welcomed the endless queue of guests at her reception in The Club at Andheri.

``She looks like she's just stepped out of Hum Aapke Hain Koun" a guest murmured in awe. Except, this wedding reception was for real. Albeit a simple one. Light classical music in the background lent a softness to the ambience. In fact there was nothing remotely filmi about the reception. For starters, there was no liquor, a dramatic departure from the parties held by filmfolks. Not even the mandatory bubbly flowed as guests were served sherbet.

The guest list was pretty impressive with Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sena chief BalThackeray and Raj Thackeray gracing the occassion. From the film world, Sanjay Khan, Feroze Khan, Dilip Kumar, Saira Banu, Yash Chopra, Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar and the Barjatya clan, descended on the reception. And of course, MF Hussain was there. Barefoot as usual.

But the cynosure of all eyes was the elusive Dr Nene. The face of the year was finally unveiled this evening. And he seemed to have lived upto and even surpassed most expectations of what this thirty-something US-based cardiac surgeon would be like. ``He's handsome, they look like they were made for each other,''one guest sighed. ``She's such a good girl, so humble and well brought up, she deserves all the good things that have happened to her,'' said Dilip Kumar.

However, Bollywood's A-list of heroes and heroines seemed to have given the party a go-by. Perhaps the unearthly hour mentioned in the invite between 7.30 and 9.30 pm -- may have had something to do with it. Bollywood parties usually begin only after this, quipped a partyanimal.

The duo were married in the US this October, in a quiet and even simpler ceremony. But if the guests expected a pre-millennial sayonara from the Dixit girl, they were in for a disappointment. Apparently Dr Nene has no objections to his wife acting in films. ``He's not even seen any of her films, perhaps that's one of the reasons why she was attracted to him,'' said a guest.