Bollywood stars are expected to attend a lavish wedding thrown by India's wealthy Shah family in a replica palace in northern Belgium.

The wood and silk mock-up of the Amber Palace of Jaipur has been built around an exhibition hall in Mechelen at a reported cost of millions of euros.

Businessman Vijay Singh's children Priti and Vishal Shah are both marrying Belgian residents of Indian origin in wedding celebrations expected to last several days, the Times of India reported.

Bharat Shah is on bail

Vijay's brother Bharat Shah, said to be Bollywood's biggest financier, currently faces charges of conspiracy with an alleged gangland boss.

The newspaper said India's Supreme Court has granted permission for the film producer to go to Belgium for the wedding, which starts on Friday.

He has been on bail since April while the case against him continues in a special Bombay court.

Illustrious guestlist

The Shah family are involved in the diamond trade and have links to the business's nexus in Antwerp, 16 miles away from Mechelen.

The Times of India on Sunday said Bollywood stars Salman Khan, Urmila Matondkar and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai are among the 5,000 people invited to the celebrations.

"We have invited the cr�me de la cr�me from across the world," Bharat Shah, who has always denied wrongdoing, was quoted telling the paper.

Aishwarya Rai has been invited

It was recently revealed that police are also investigating allegations that the film producer received gangland funds to make Devdas, the most expensive Bollywood film ever.

The whole film industry in Bombay is in the process of dealing with allegations of widespread criminal involvement.

Shah has asked for police protection, along with other stars, after receiving underworld threats.

Gangsters are also known to have issued extortion threats to actors Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, and Salman Khan, as well as actresses Urmila Matondkar, Juhi Chawla and Sonali Bendre.