Guests at the wedding-eve bash at Chateau St Cloud and (below) Kylie Minogue performing at the same venue

Kylie Minogue picking at the blueberries served in mango baskets. Anil Ambani freaking out on the chhena nargisi kofta in white saffron gravy and matar ki reshmi puris. Javed Akhtar tucking into a tender Indrani pak on golden ice… Sheer satiation.

The Dom Perignon may have flowed like water, accompanied by strawberries on ice, and the Japanese millionaires could have glided out of stretch limos to head for the Lenotre chocolate fountain bars. But, at the six-day Mittal wedding spectacular (June 18-23) in Paris, it was Calcutta-based catering king Munna Maharaj (alias Dipak Kumar Singh) who cast the real spell with his epicurean delights.

From the ring ceremony at the Palace de Versailles to the geet sammelan at the dizzying heights of the St Cloud chateau, the mehndi lunch at the avant garde Bristol Hotel to the lavish wedding dinner spread at the Voux le Vicomte — Munna’s menu was lapped up everywhere.

“While the Indian celebs have come to expect something special from Munnabhai’s kitchen on every occasion, the international guests were stumped by the sheer variety of vegetarian fare on the table,” observes a member of the culinary squad that was flown to Paris from Calcutta.

The popular chef, who has whipped up rare delicacies at many a starry occasion in the past and also catered to a Marwari diamond merchant’s do in Israel post-Paris, feels the Mittal wedding was something “hatke (different)”, for its elaborate “planning, personal touch and eye for detail” in everything.

So, the Jodhpuri chutney ki subzi and the nine-course badam mithai — Munna Maharaj’s “signature items” both — were ferried alongside the Taj kebabs and the Blue Elephant dim sums in 40 refrigerated Volvo 14-wheelers to the various venues. English-speaking waiters and waitresses were flown in from across the Channel and the crockery on the table was exclusively embossed everyday with the ritual rolls and the ‘Vanisha weds Amit’ line.

Bollywood Nite, a Javed Akhtar-scripted song-and-dance gala, saw Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, Rani Mukherjee and Saif Ali Khan parading their prancing prowess. But it was the flamboyant duo of Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai with their high-energy numbers accompanied by the inimitable Javed Jaffrey, that drew the loudest applause from Lakshmi Mittal’s distinguished guests, reveal Munna’s men.

A French band drummed up the welcome tune at the elegant Le Grant hotel, where most of the guests camped, while the night sky at the Vicomte was lit up by a sensational fireworks display on the occasion of the wedding. The picturesque park of Jardine des Tulieries at the 16-road crossing of the Concorde was the setting for the exotic all-Indian dinner menu on the night of the ring ceremony.

An eclectic spread of non-vegetarian continental cuisine by French caterers was on offer for the international audience, but for the Ambanis and the Goels, the Hindujas and the Shahs, it was Munna’s all the way, be it breakfast or lunch, high tea or dinner.