Mumbai, India — The youngest son of Mukesh Ambani, the richest man in Asiamarried his longtime girlfriend early Saturday morning in what many called the wedding of the year, attended by global celebrities, business moguls and politicians, highlighting the billionaire’s staggering wealth and growing influence.
The wedding rituals, which include the exchange of garlands by the bride and groom and the walk around the sacred fire, started on friday and were completed after midnight.
He Anant Ambani’s wedding celebrations with Radhika Merchant It took place at the Ambani-owned Jio World Convention Center in Mumbai and at the family home. The marriage capped months of wedding events that featured performances by pop stars such as Rihanna and Justin Bieber.
The four-day wedding celebrations began on Friday with the traditional Hindu wedding ceremony and will be followed by a grand reception that will extend throughout the weekend. the guest list includes former British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson; Saudi Aramco CEO Amin H. Nasser; and Adele, Lana Del Rey, Drake and David Beckham, according to local media. The Ambani family did not confirm the guest list.
Television news channels showed celebrities such as Kim Kardashian in a red ensemble and the arrival of professional wrestler and Hollywood actor John Cena.
The Kardashian sisters, Kim and Khloé, took a ride in a motorized rickshaw through the bustling streets of Mumbai on Friday before joining the wedding ceremonies, the Press Trust of India news agency said.
The international guests wore traditional costumes. by leading Indian fashion designers. They donned embroidered sherwanis, long-sleeved outer coats worn by men in South Asia. Cena arrived in a sky blue sherwani and white pants. Nick Jonas wore a pink sherwani and white pants.
Bollywood icons Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Ranbir Kapoor attended the wedding and danced to popular songs from Hindi films. Among the guests were Indian cricketers including icons Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav.
Police imposed traffic diversions around the wedding venue from Friday to Monday to control the influx of guests who flew to Mumbai, where heavy monsoon rains have caused flooding and flight disruptions over the past week.
The spectacle and display of opulence that accompanies the wedding has led many to raise questions about growing inequality in India, where The gap between rich and poor is growing. The event has also sparked anger among some Mumbai residents, who say they are struggling with congested traffic.
“It affects our profits. I don’t care much about the wedding,” said Vikram, a taxi driver who uses one name.
The groom’s father, Mukesh Ambani, is the ninth richest man in the world, with a net worth of $116 billion, according to Forbes. He is the richest person in Asia. His Reliance Industries is a conglomerate that reports more than $100 billion in annual revenue, with interests including petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecommunications and retail.
The Ambani family owns, among other assets, a 27-story family complex in Mumbai valued at $1 billion. The building contains three helipads, a garage for 160 cars and a private cinema room.
The groom, Anant, 29, oversees the conglomerate’s green and renewable energy expansion. He also runs a 3,000-acre animal rescue center in Jamnagar, in the state of Gujarat, the family’s hometown.
The bride, Radhika Merchant, also 29, is the daughter of pharmaceutical magnate Viren Merchant and is the marketing director of his company, Encore Healthcare, according to Vogue.
Ambani’s critics say his company has relied on political connections during governments led by the Congress Party in the 1970s and 1980s, and under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government after 2014.
The Ambani family’s pre-wedding celebrations have been lavish and star-studded from the very beginning.
In March, they hosted a three-day prenuptial party for Anant that featured 1,200 guests, including former world leaders, tech moguls and Bollywood megastars, and performances by Rihanna, Akon and Diljit Dosanjh, a Punjabi singer who rose to international fame when he performed at Coachella. Tech billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates also attended the event.
It was the start of months-long lavish pre-wedding celebrations that grabbed headlines and sparked a social media frenzy.
In May, the family took guests on a three-day cruise from Italy to France, which included Katy Perry singing her hit song “Firework” and a performance by Pitbull, according to media reports.
The family also organized a mass wedding for more than 50 disadvantaged couples on July 2 as part of the celebrations.
Last week, Justin Bieber performed for hundreds of guests at a pre-wedding concert that included performances by Bollywood stars Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh and Salman Khan.
Ambani also made headlines in 2018, when Beyoncé performed at her daughter’s pre-wedding festivities. Former US Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry were among those who rubbed shoulders with Indian celebrities and Bollywood stars in the western Indian city of Udaipur.
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