Lavish wedding celebrations for the son of Asia’s richest man yesterday resumed with a star-studded guest list including Hollywood celebrities, global business leaders and two former British prime ministers.
Billionaire tycoon Mukesh Ambani’s youngest son, Anant Ambani, and fiancee Radhika Merchant, both 29, were tying the knot over the weekend in the financial capital Mumbai following months of pre-marriage parties that have set a new benchmark in matrimonial extravagance.
In a blessing ceremony set for yesterday, the world’s rich and famous would greet and pay their respects to the couple at the wedding venue, a 16,000-capacity convention center owned by the Ambani family’s conglomerate.
Photo: Reliance Industries via AP
It follows a formal ceremony and party the previous evening attended by the likes of socialite Kim Kardashian, actor John Cena and former British prime ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson.
Kardashian shared videos on Instagram showing the professional influencer and her sister Khloe Kardashian preparing for Friday night’s festivities adorned in traditional Indian dresses and ornate jewelry.
Footage shared by the hosts showed hundreds of revelers dancing enthusiastically inside the venue wearing traditional Indian dress.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and Samsung Electronics executive chairman Jay Y. Lee were among the hundreds of famous figures from the business, sporting and entertainment worlds to make an appearance.
“Great wedding!” Chinese ambassador to India Xu Feihong (徐飛洪) wrote on X along with footage of the couple from inside the venue. “Best wishes to the new couple and double happiness!”
This weekend’s celebrations end today with a reception party and cap months of extravagant pre-wedding parties.
Earlier this year, the family held a party at the Ambanis’ ancestral home where a purpose-built Hindu temple was unveiled, with private performances by R&B star Rihanna and Canada’s Justin Bieber.
Guests at that gala included Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and former US president Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, along with a who’s who of India’s sports and entertainment worlds.
Last month, the couple embarked on a four-day Mediterranean cruise along with 1,200 guests, with singer Katy Perry performing at a masquerade ball at a French chateau in Cannes.
The Backstreet Boys, US rapper Pitbull and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli also provided entertainment.
Mukesh Ambani is chairman of Reliance Industries, a family-founded conglomerate that has grown into India’s biggest company by market cap. The patriarch is the world’s 11th-richest person with a fortune of more than US$123 billion, according to Forbes.
He held the most expensive wedding in India to date for his daughter in 2018, which reportedly cost US$100 million and included a performance by US singer Beyonce.
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