At Paris Ball, Ananya's Dad Chunky Panday Had The First Dance

Mumbai: Actor Chunky Panday has revealed exactly what went down in Paris where his 19-year-old daughter Ananya made her high society debut at the Bal des Debutantes last Saturday. Le Bal, as the annual event is known, is a high profile fashion event where 20-odd young women from prominent families around the world make their social debuts wearing couture dresses. The Pandays were very surprised when they got the call about Le Bal, Chunky Panday told NDTV. Ananya was accompanied to Paris by her parents - dad Chunky and mom Bhavana - and her sister Rysa. Her cousin Ahaan was also in Paris at Le Bal, as the escort or 'cavalier' to Princess Alice of Belgium.

Ananya's cavalier, to whom she was introduced at a formal dinner in the Peninsula Hotel, was Prince Philip d'Arenberg. The first dance, however, went to each debutante's father. "Waltzing with Ananya was great fun," Chunky Panday told NDTV, adding that he often danced with both daughters when they were young.

Here are Ananya and Ahaan practicing the waltz before the main event - Ananya wears Abu-Sandeep's 'Firefly' dress:
 

 

Cousins at their waltz rehearsal,ballroom dancing requires grace,elegance and posture perfect. @ahaanpandayy @ananyapanday you both have it all,shine bright my darlings tonight at the @lebal.paris #Shinebright #lebalparis #debutantes2017 #regalcavalier #cavaliers #lebal #balroomdance #Waltz #rehearsal #family #cousinlove #cousinsrock

A post shared by Deanne Panday (@deannepanday) on Nov 25, 2017 at 8:34am PST

"Ananya made me feel very proud," the 55-year-old actor said, describing Le Bal as a 'worldwide launch pad.' This, Chunky Panday joked, was "the closest feeling to royalty" as he would get.

"I think it's a very good experience, they got to truly experience a fairy tale evening," Ahaan's mother Deanne Panday told NDTV.

The Pandays in Paris:
 

 

Paris in the Fall of 17

A post shared by chunky panday (@chunkypanday) on Nov 24, 2017 at 3:03pm PST

Ananya Panday's Le Bal gown was a blue-black confection by Jean Paul Gaultier:
 

 

My Princess at @lebal.paris ! @jpgaultierofficial

A post shared by Bhavana Pandey (@bhavanapandey) on Nov 26, 2017 at 3:28am PST

Ananya slipped into Monisha Jaising's silver chainmail mini for the after-party:
 

 

The stunning young, @ananyapanday, shines bright like a diamond in #monishajaising couture at the after party of Le Bal des Debutantes! #monishajaising #ananyapandey #lebaldesdebutantes #afterparty #futuresuperstar #chainmail

A post shared by Monisha Jaising (@monishajaising) on Nov 26, 2017 at 9:14am PST

Ananya and Ahaan had company from home in the forms of Princess Gauravi of Jaipur, who was also making her debut at Le Bal, and her brother Padmanabh Singh, acting as cavalier to Ava Phillippe, daughter of Hollywood stars Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe.