From reel to real: Aishwarya in Devdas

June 23: In the lovely setting of the 17th century Vaux les Vicomte, whose grounds were decorated with “hundreds of thousands of roses”, Lakshmi Mittal’s daughter, Vanisha, and Amit Bhatia, were married last night, bringing to an end a £30 million wedding in France.

Spectacular fireworks concluded six days of festivities and the finishing touches to what some are calling “My Big Fat (wallet) Indian Wedding” were provided by Aishwarya Rai, who danced a number from Devdas, and, separately, by Akshay Kumar.

Shah Rukh Khan, who had performed on the previous night, did not stay for the wedding, guests said. It is not known how much Aishwarya was paid for her appearance.

The 17th century chateau served as the backdrop to the ceremony, which was conducted on a mandap built in the centre of a pool. It took guests up to two hours to drive from Paris to the venue but most thought the journey worthwhile.

Two years ago, guests attending the wedding in Antwerp of diamond dealer Vijay Shah’s son and daughter had dubbed the ceremony “the wedding of the century”.

Today one guest, who had attended that lavish occasion, said he had been wrong. “Mittal has gone and done everything — it was superb. He has overtaken Vijay Shah.” Another guest remarked that Mittal’s policy of providing a “blank cheque” for his daughter’s wedding had paid off.

“The chateau was used only as a backdrop,” one woman said. “Everything else — the food stalls, the tents, the pillars, the elephants — was built. There were elephant-shaped pillars, palaces in the Indian and western styles — the former looked a little like the Taj. The colour was a bit peachy. There were candles everywhere. It was a very nice atmosphere, very pretty.”

“Six inch thick ropes” that wound round the mandap were made from roses. “Mittal must have bought tonnes of flowers,” remarked the woman.

The 25-year-old bridegroom arrived on a carriage drawn by two white horses. “I believe he was dressed by Tarun Tahiliani,” she said, adding, “the bride was dressed by Abu Jani, I think. She was waiting for him in the chateau.”

Mittal apparently imported “rain Gods from New Zealand”, some said, to stave off bad weather. If he did, they succeeded partly by managing to keep the rain to a light drizzle.

Now that the wedding is over, Mittal may face gathering storm clouds at his steel plant in South Africa. Workers there see a conflict between a policy of retrenchment to which they are being subjected and the fortune he has spent on the wedding.

One guest was ungracious enough to sup at Mittal’s table and think of the poor back in India: “He went over the top, it was a bit gross. I was thinking of the farmers who have committed suicide in Andhra.”