Veena Nagda has been a Mehendi designer for over three decades as well as holds the world record by being the quickest Mehendi artist. The movie industry has called her “good luck,” while Karan Johar has branded her the “Bollywood Mehendi Queen.”
Patcy N talked with Veena Nagda about just the events that’s why she’s so popular with women. In Mumbai, I was born into a middle-class family. My mother was indeed a stay-at-home mom, while my father was indeed a pujari. Because we come from a strict Jain family, I was not permitted to study following my SSC, despite the fact that I had received a first-class. As a result, I began embroidering saris and learning how to apply Mehendi. This is how it all began. To make a long tale short, I was called towards the Ambanis’ house after applying Mehendi at a few events. It’s an engagement party, and I was requested to do the bridal Mehendi too because they loved it that much.
The huge orders started pouring in after that. Sanjay Khan’s daughter Farah Khan invited Veena Nagda to her wedding. She requested me to start at 7 a.m. and I had three more Mehendi that same day. That was my very first foray into the world of Bollywood. Suzanne Khan’s Mehendi was scheduled eight months ahead of time. I perform Mehendi for festivities in addition to weddings. For films like Kabhie Khushi Kabhi Ghum, Kal Ho Naa Ho, Hum Tum, and Kabhie Alvida Na Kehna, I’ve also done it. The wedding of Hrithik Roshan gave me the whole of my fame. For famous weddings, I do not charge a fee.
They pay me in accordance with their preferences, but it is always more of it than I anticipated. Again for the bride, my standard fees range from Rs 3,000 to Rs 7,000 rupees, and also include the feet and hands. It costs between Rs 50 and Rs 75 per hand for visitors. My spouse is really helpful. We frequent late evenings, which are not permitted in our neighbourhood, but he’s been really accommodating.
Whenever Farah Khan, Sanjay Khan’s daughter, offered me a reservation, I had no idea who’s been getting married. I’d only been instructed to keep the dates open. I was summoned to their house a month well before marriage. They chose the pattern & instructed me to finish the Mehendi in a little under 2 hours because the ring ceremony had been that night.
They offered me round-trip flights to Bangalore but warned me to just not tell anyone. That same day, I had one further booking, that I completed at 4 a.m. We then proceeded immediately towards the airport. We had intended to return to Mumbai that night, but we altered our minds and decided to remain for 2 days instead. Citing security concerns, we also weren’t permitted to make any phone calls. There have been fireworks which last half an hour just on the marriage day. The wedding took place in a swimming pool! A platform was constructed inside the pool’s centre, as well as a tiny bridge was constructed to allow visitors to see them. This was the most beautiful wedding I’ve ever witnessed. Hrithik still recognises me and chats with me since I also made his Mehendi.
I met Dimple Kapadia during Hrithik’s wedding, and she vowed to contact me for her daughter’s wedding. Twinkle phoned late one night to ask if I can just do her Mehendi for two days. Since I didn’t realise it was the actress, I questioned if she was phoning at the last minute because her Mehendi artist had abandoned her. She explained that her wedding had already been arranged at the very last minute and invited me to join her at a friend’s house. We were instructed to sit in a vehicle by the watchman when we arrived. We were terrified since we had no idea whose Mehendi it was.
The driver was adamant about not telling us anything. When we arrived at their home, Dimple Kapadia welcomed us and asked whether we knew who was getting married.
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