Agency report 
 
London, Mar 13: The upcoming wedding of Bollywood stars Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai will be the greatest marriage in India's modern history and could be as big as that of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, a media report said on Sunday.

"With a guest list expected to exceed 5,000, helicopters hired to shower petals over the reception and the astrological charts finally predicting a union that is truly blessed, the marriage of the former Miss World Aishwarya Rai and Bollywood leading man Abhishek Bachchan, the son of Asia's most famous actor Amitabh Bachchan, is expected to happen within a month," the Observer reported.

The ceremony, set to be held over 10 days in a private estate on the outskirts of Mumbai and a palace in Rajasthan, is being hailed as a Bollywood fairytale and India's answer to the coupling of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, the report said.

"For Indians across the world this wedding will be as big as Charles and Diana's was for the British", Bollywood columnist Amita Ghosh was quoted in the report.

"The question people are asking right now is: why all the fuss about Liz Hurley? Perhaps this is why the media in India have turned against Liz, nobody really knows who she is. Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan are our real stars and their wedding is the only one that counts," Ghosh said.

The alluring green-eyed Rai, who is considered Bollywood's top leading lady and has several hit movies to her credit, including Bride and Prejudice, was named one of People magazine's 100 most beautiful people.

Bachchan is the son of the king of the Indian film industry and a star in his own right. Their story has been sold as the tale of two people who found love after a string of failed romances, the report said.

"This wedding is a fantasy come true for many Indians. We are talking about the biggest and most star-studded guest list in Bollywood history. The couple have a hit film out in which they star as husband and wife, but this is only the start," Ghosh said.

The columnist said the marriage of two such mega brands from Bollywood will result in a 100 million dollar "payday for both couples from spin-offs."