Charan, Upasana takes first step, exchange rings

Hyderabad: It's now formal! Tollywood hero Ramcharan Tej's engagement with his lady love Upasana Kamineni took place with fanfare on Thursday at Temple Trees farm house of the latter near Moinabad mandal of Ranga Reddy district. The ceremony was held exactly at 7:30 pm, considered to be auspicious for the couple.

At the time of giving and receiving the engagement rings, there was chanting of mantras, with and Charan putting the daimonds studded ring first on Upasana's finger with a charming smile and Upasana, a picture of grace, doing her part.

The couple, who had been in love for over 18 months now, have decided to tie the knot. Popular actor and uncle of Charan, Pavan Kalyan drove the groom-to-be in his newly-bought Mecedez Benz SUV. Charan, who was all smiles, politely refused to give a perfect sound bite, merely saying: 'I am happy at this moment'.

He refused to reveal the date of marriage, passing it to his uncle Pavan, who simply laughed off and drove away. Charan wore an elegant sherwani, specially designed by Rajesh Pratap Singh of Delhi.

He did not shave off his cute little beard for the function. Upasana, on her part, wore a traditional Dharmavaram saree. The cost of the wedding rings are reported to be around `10 cr each.

Though it is said that Upasana wanted the engagement to be a lowkey affair, Charan's family decided to make it big, considering the image of Chiranjeevi and his clout in Tollywood as well as political circles.

It is believed that not less than 2,000 invitations were sent out, with most of the invitees making it to the function. Veteran actor and President of Movie Artistes Association (MAA), Murali Mohan was among the first to arrive at the venue.

Several prominent personalities from the tinsel world and political arena attended the mega function and blessed the couple. Producer Rama Naidu followed next and Chiranjeevi along with his wife came in a separate car.

TRS MLA K Taraka Rama Rao attended the function. The Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, the president of Telugu Desam N Chandrababu Naidu, and TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao came to the venue at around 9PM.

The menu was big as nearly 100 varieties of south and North Indian dishes apart from some of the western delicacies were prepared for the guests. The Delhibased event management company Choice Entertainment designed the theme and oversaw the arrangements including catering.

A huge consignment of exotic flowers were brought by air from Thailand. Skilled decorators from Bangkok have been flown in. A three-tier security was arranged and all the vehicles were stopped and thoroughly checked before being allowed inside.

Charan has arranged a bachelors party to his friends at Goa tomorrow and it would be attended by Allu Arjun, Rana, Sarwanand and others.