Mid-Day

Mumbai, Aug 6: They may seem like tough boys, but when it comes to matters of the heart and family, the Khans - Salman, Arbaaz and Sohail - are real softies.

They dote on their kid sister Arpita, whom they lovingly call "little princess." So when they decided to celebrate her 18th birthday on August 3rd, they brought it in with lavishness in keeping with the Princess theme and a guest list of 200 people.

Overdose of pink!

Says a guest who was present at the party, "The guests included family, friends and Arpita's pals. It was like a fairytale setting. The theme was "Princess Arpita celebrates her 18th birthday", and the decorations, which included flowers and satin drapes, were in pink and white. The cake was pink, white and brown and had a huge tiara and wings."

As for the menu, the guests could take their pick from Chinese, sushi, pasta and Thai. "Everything was planned and coordinated by Arpita, right down to the finest detail."

Starry sight

The guest list was not too starry. Katrina, Salman's girlfriend, wasn't there as she is shooting for Vipul Shah's film, London Dreams.

Besides family, the Khan brothers and their wives, Seema and Malaika, Atul Agnihotri and wife Alvira, Salim Khan with Salma Khan, Helen and Amrita Arora.

Some of the other guests included Sanjay and Maheep Kapoor, Sajid and Wardha Nadiadwala, Anna Singh and Jaiveer, Zayed and Malaika Khan, Chunky and Bhavna Pandey, Dino Morea, Nandita Mahtani, designer Surily Goel, Shilpa and Shamita Shetty, Nikhil Advani and Arpita's boyfriend, Arjun Kapoor. Said the source, "Shah Rukh, who had come last year, didn't come this time."

Beauty sleep

Says Arpita, "I had a blast! What made it special was the fact that all my cousins, family members and close friends were there."

And the youngster is already turning out to be quite a fashionista, considering she wore an original Roberto Cavalli creation.

Since the party rocked till 6 am, she's still not found out what her brothers have gifted her. "I've just woken up, so I've yet to find out! I guess I'll know once everyone is up and about."