Alia Bhatt-Ranbir Kapoor’s wedding was the toughest, says Yusuf Ibrahim: ‘About 350 media people gathered, 60 bouncers worked round the clock’

Recalling the moment, Yusuf Ibrahim said, “The toughest ever wedding we managed was that of Alia Bhatt. There were at least 350 people from media houses. At least ten people came from each company. Additionally, their fans had assembled outside their home. Same company sent four people from each of their regional channels. People had crowded the entire Pali Hill. Both ways leading to Pali Hill was filled with media and fans. The crowd was so much that we had to attend to guests cars from down the road leading to their building. We had to run behind the cars. It got even more challenging because even the guests at the wedding were celebrities. The chaos was such that even the people residing in the building got annoyed and were immensely troubled.”

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In the same interview, Yusuf also quashed several rumours around Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor’s wedding day. Amid their wedding reports in April 2022, it was reported that there were 200 bouncers on duty for the wedding. There were also reports that the couple requested for non-smoker and polite guards. “It’s all untrue,” said Yusuf.

He added, “We were about 60 people in each shift and our shift was of eight hours each. We worked round the clock. It was crazy because the building has just one gate for both entry and exit, so everybody had to enter through the same gate. We had to escort all the relatives and friends through that crowded road. All of their guests were celebs. Press was crazy on that night.”

While the guards worked in different shifts, Yusuf and his core team worked for at least 18 hours for over six days since Alia and Ranbir’s wedding. He said, “There were no special instructions from them as to how many people they need or how many days of protection they seek. They just called me and shared details of their wedding events. I have known them since Student of The Year and Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani days. They trust me with my work.”

Yusuf explained how he managed media personnel that were planning to climb walls and buildings to capture the couple’s private event.

“I had kept half of my boys in uniform and rest of them in civil dress so that they can manage it well and keep an eye on everybody without making them conscious. They would update me that media is planning to climb the wall and so, I would instruct them to cover the walls. This is how we managed.”

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As much as Yusuf and team struggled at Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor’s wedding, they chilled the most at Varun Dhawan and Natasha Dalal’s wedding.

Yusuf said, “The easiest wedding I managed was that of Varun Dhawan. It was one of the weddings soon after COVID-19 pandemic. They had invited limited people. They had booked a resort. The family went in and came out only after three days. So there was nothing much to manage.”