The man who captured Virat-Anushka's fairytale wedding

MUMBAI: Remember December 2017, when Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli and Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma tied the knot in an exclusive ceremony at Italy's breathtaking Borgo Finocchieto? Far away from paparazzi, the two exchanged garlands in a private affair, and then had revealed the news on social media with a picture of the ceremony. Till date, their wedding videos make the fans ask for more.

The fairytale touch to Virushka's wedding nuptials were given by Vishal Punjabi, filmmaker and founder of the production company, The Wedding Filmer. He's the one who shot Virat and Anushka's destination wedding along with his team. It's been almost three years since he filmed the festivities, and he naturally considers it a career milestone.

"I didn't know it was their wedding until I got there!" Vishal told IANS, adding: "I was proud of the fact that they picked me for their wedding. It was a private affair and we respected their privacy as we wanted them to freely live their special moment. It was not that difficult to shoot their wedding. In fact, they made us so feel comfortable that I felt I was a part of their celebrations. Once the wedding was done, I realised that I had finally accomplished something big. I had covered one of the biggest and beautiful weddings of the world. Virat and Anushka taught me the difference between hope and expectation."

To make their marriage video special, Vishal decided to give it a musical effect. Instead of depending on Bollywood shaadi songs, Vishal tried something original.

The Sufi song "Peer vi tu" was created for Virushka's wedding video. It was sung by Harshadeep Kaur and Mohan Kannan.

"Why go for Bollywood when one can create something original? It's so boring to use same songs at almost every wedding. Every bride should feel special on her special day. So, I thought it was important to come up with original tracks," Vishal emphasised.

Apart from Virat-Anushka, Vishal has also captured the moments of Deepika Padukone-Ranveer Singh and Bipasha Basu-Karan Singh Grover's weddings.

Vishal also spoke about how the wedding industry has faced the brunt due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The wedding industry has taken a huge hit. Many wedding assignments that I was really excited about and worked really hard on have been pushed and there is nothing that can be done about it. At this time, the best you can do is help those around you, accept what is happening and stay positive by turning this around to improve your life, and the lives of those you love. I am worried what if people start marrying online," he quipped.

Vishal is all set to come up with the streaming service Wedflix for people to watch wedding content directly at their homes.

"We coined the term Wedflix to encourage people to stay at home and watch their wedding films. A lot of couples we've filmed for -- who have children now or who are stuck at home with their families -- end up watching their wedding videos and relive their memories again.

"Your lehenga ain't gonna comfort you in times of distress. Your wedding film has the potential to remind you of why you got married in the first place. So, when life is going uphill, Wedflix and Chill," Vishal ends with a smart hardsell punchline for his trade.