Forget Liz Hurley and Arun Nayar.

There is only one wedding that matters in India this year – that of the Bollywood superstars Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai - and it is happening today in the film and financial hub of Bombay.

The pairing of two of India’s biggest heartthrobs has whipped this vast country into a frenzy that Ms Hurley and her beau could only dream of – despite selling coverage rights to Hello! magazine.

The hysteria reached a bizarre peak yesterday when a minor Bollywood starlet was reported to have attempted suicide, alleging that Mr Bachchan had promised to marry her during a year-long affair.

Janavi Kapoor, who is in her mid-20s and goes by the screen name of Naina, slashed her wrist outside the Bachchan residence on Thursday night and then tried to register a police complaint against Mr Bachchan.

Ms Kapoor did star in a song-and-dance sequence in Mr Bachchan's movie "Dus" in 2005. But police refused to register her complaint, saying she appeared to be depressed and under the influence of drugs, and told her to return with her parents if she wanted to pursue the case.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people crowded around the Bachchan residence in Bombay, straining for a glimpse of the couple as they prepared to tie the knot on the third and final day of their nuptial festivities.

Mr Bachchan, the 32-year-old son of screen legend Amitabh Bachchan, and Miss Rai, 33, a former Miss World, have starred together in five movies and are considered Bollywood’s most bankable couple.

All that fans and reporters could see, however, was a huge air-conditioned tent, decorated with red and pink flowers and gold and green curtains, in a garden adjoining the Bachchan family home.

Unlike the week-long Hurley-Nayar celebrations, the “Abi-ash” wedding is a strictly private affair with only 100 guests, including some of India’s top film stars, industrialists and sportsmen.

The relatively small wedding -– at least by Indian standards -- is thought to be partly due to the distaste many Indians felt for the Hurley-Nayar festivities.

Mr Nayar’s father, Vinod, has cut off his son since the wedding, claiming he and his friends were ignored during the celebrations in Gloucestershire, Bombay and Jodhpur.

He has even offered to testify on behalf of a Jodhpur resident who has lodged a legal complaint against the couple for violating Hindu customs during their Indian wedding ceremony.

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