Rai-Bachchan Wedding Sculptures

Posted by Jennifer Yap Apr 21, 2007

The wedding of Bollywood royalty Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan on April 20 has inspired two Indian sculptors to create new works - in fiberglass and sand respectively.

Inspired by a lady who came into his dreams for 25 days and asked him to make 25 sculptures of Rai, Arjun Prajapathi started work two months ago and plans to finish by June. With help from his three sons, he models the sculptures with Haryana and Delhi clay. Plaster moulds will then be made, from which the final fiberglass sculptures will be cast.

Prajapathi plans to hold an exhibition of his finished works in Mumbai - which he hopes that Rai and Bachchan will inaugurate. He also plans to present one of the sculptures to Rai.

On the other end of the permanance and durability spectrum, acclaimed Indian sand sculptor Sudarshan Patnaik has completed a 15-foot film reel made of sand featuring imagined scenes from the Rai-Bachchan wedding ceremony. Incorporating giant faces of Rai and Bachchan and a shehnai (Indian oboe) musician accompanied by a child beating dholak (hand drums), the Puri beach sculpture provides a focal point for starstruck Indians hundreds of miles away from the celebrations who are hungry for details of the couple and their wedding.

Patnaik plans to send photos of his ephemeral sculpture to Bachchan’s father, film superstar Amitabh Bachchan.