Bollywood turned out in festive dress for designer Manish Malhotra’s annual Diwali party at his Mumbai residence on Thursday night. The Manish Malhotra Diwali bash brought together some of the biggest names in the film industry, with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan arriving hand in hand and posing together for photographers.
Aishwarya wore a red saree with a golden zari border, while Abhishek wore a black outfit. Kareena Kapoor Khan arrived with Saif Ali Khan in a golden sequinned saree, and Saif wore a black kurta with white trousers. Akshay Kumar came with his wife Twinkle Khanna and their son Aarav, the three of them in matching white outfits.
Manish Malhotra Diwali bash: the Bachchans arrive together
The Bachchans’ joint appearance drew the most attention of the night. Aishwarya and Abhishek are rarely photographed together at parties, and their walk to the cameras, hand in hand, became the most shared image from the evening. Kareena and Saif also posed together, after their joint appearance on Koffee With Karan had already put the couple back in the spotlight.
Malhotra, hosting for the evening, wore an all-black outfit with gold work and a black stole. The party was held at his residence in Bandra, and the guest list ran mostly to members of his close circle, with family groups arriving together through the evening.
Janhvi Kapoor arrived in a striped gold-and-black fishtail lehenga with a matching blouse. Suhana Khan wore a multi-hued lehenga set, and Ananya Panday arrived in an outfit inspired by Rani Mukerji’s sequinned Say Shava Shava look from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. The Manish Malhotra Diwali bash has become one of the industry’s most photographed nights of the year, and the looks from the red carpet spread across social media within hours.
Manish Malhotra Diwali bash and the night’s best looks
Vicky Kaushal, seen at the Manish Malhotra Diwali bash in a maroon sherwani, was among the most photographed men of the night, and Madhuri Dixit arrived in a pink saree with a matching corset blouse. Karan Johar wore a black ethnic outfit, and Kajol, Karisma Kapoor, Raveena Tandon and Sonali Bendre were also among the guests. Nita Ambani attended the party, with Malhotra himself designing her fuchsia pink satin sari for the evening.
The younger stars were out in force too. Sara Ali Khan, Ibrahim Ali Khan, Shanaya Kapoor, Khushi Kapoor, Sreeleela and Malavika Mohanan attended, along with Kriti Sanon, Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal. Parineeti Chopra arrived with her husband Raghav Chadha, and Aditya Roy Kapur, Disha Patani, Ananya Birla and Jibraan Khan were also photographed at the venue.
Photographer Yogen Shah’s pictures from the Manish Malhotra Diwali bash carpet ran across news sites through Friday, and several guests posted their own looks online. Ananya Panday shared a reel in her festive outfit, and Suhana Khan posted pictures from the night on her social media accounts.
The Manish Malhotra Diwali bash is one of several big parties in the week, with designers and producers hosting their own gatherings across Mumbai, but Malhotra’s night has the longest run as a fixture. Guests arrive through the evening and pose on a short red carpet outside the residence before heading inside, and the pictures are usually the first Diwali looks of the season to circulate widely.
Manish Malhotra Diwali bash: a yearly fixture
Malhotra’s Diwali party has run for years as one of Bollywood’s fixed dates in the festival calendar, and this year’s edition fell on the Thursday before Diwali itself. The guest list mixes film stars with fashion regulars and family friends, and the evening is known as much for the outfits as for the gathering.
This year’s party came in a week when the industry’s attention was split between the festival and the release of Ramayana, which opened in cinemas on Thursday 5 November. The Manish Malhotra Diwali bash gave the stars a night away from the box office numbers, and the pictures from the carpet will run through the weekend as Diwali celebrations continue across the city.