Designer Asmita Marwa also took to Instagram to post pictures of Vidya’s half saree ceremony. “The most beautiful half saree ceremony for my gorgeous friend @lakshmimanchu Lakshmi Manchu’s daughter. The air was filled with the scent of tuberoses and the gentle notes of classical music — so refreshing, soulful and beautiful,” she wrote, posting pictures and videos of the event. One video shows Carnatic musicians performing as Vidya is blessed by guests who attended the ceremony. She also added, “God bless you always, my lovely girl Apple.”

For the unversed, a half saree ceremony is a traditional South Indian rite of passage celebrating a girl’s transition from childhood to womanhood, typically held days after her first menstruation. The girl is usually gifted her first half saree (skirt, blouse, dupatta) by her maternal uncle. Guests are served a traditional feast, particularly sweets, to mark the occasion.

Lakshmi married Andy Srinivasan, an IT professional, in 2006 and their daughter, Vidya, was born through surrogacy in June 2014 via surrogacy. Andy has settled in the US while Lakshmi and her daughter settled for many years in Hyderabad before moving to Mumbai. The actor last starred in the 2025 Telugu film Daksha: The Deadly Conspiracy and the Tamil film Pookie, which released this year.

Amid the fallout of Palaash Muchhal and Smriti Mandhana’s cancelled wedding, actress Daisy Shah has shared her thoughts on the situation—and expressed hope that the two reconcile. The actress, who is set to collaborate with Palaash on his upcoming directorial, opened up about the controversy and why she chose to keep her personal and professional views separate.

Amid the fallout of Palaash Muchhal and Smriti Mandhana’s cancelled wedding, actress Daisy Shah has shared her thoughts on the situation—and expressed hope that the two reconcile.The actress, who is set to collaborate with Palaash on his upcoming directorial, opened up about the controversy and why she chose to keep her personal and professional views separate.

Palaash avoided reaching out directly amid controversy

Daisy revealed that Palaash hesitated to approach her personally for the project following the controversy surrounding his personal life.“I got 2–3 calls from random people saying that there is a film that Palaash is making, and he wants me to be a part of the film. I was like Palaash knows me personally because I am really good friends with Palash’s sister Palak, so I was thinking if Palash wants to speak to me, he will contact me directly, or he would message me through Palak so why am I getting a message from a random person?” she told Miss Malini.The actress, who shares a close bond with his sister Palak Muchhal, eventually reached out to him herself.“So, I happened to drop a message to Palash, asking about the same, and he said, ‘yeah ma’am this is true, but because of the situation lately, I am not calling personally anybody because it might go on a different tangent altogether’,” she added. The two later connected for a narration, and Daisy agreed to be part of the film.

‘I don’t mix personal and professional life’

When asked if the controversy made her sceptical about working with him, Daisy maintained a balanced stance.“I can switch off from personal life to professional life, and I don’t think your personal life should affect your professional life. First of all, I don’t know what is the actual story,” she said.“There are always two sides to a coin. We really don’t know what went wrong because it is between two families, we are sitting here and judging from what we heard from the media houses. We don’t know what is the actual truth, and that doesn’t mean that I am nullifying the woman side of the story. I’m just being neutral. Also, he contacted me on a professional level. So, who am I to even judge a book by its cover?,” she added, stressing that she prefers not to judge without knowing the full truth.