Anant Ambani and his fiancée Radhika Merchant posed for a photo on the red carpet during their sangeet ceremony at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai. All eyes are on this weekend’s mega wedding in India, where the youngest son of Asia’s wealthiest man prepares to tie the knot with his long-time sweetheart after months of lavish pre-wedding celebrations.
Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani, the country’s richest man and the billionaire chairman of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, is throwing a three-day wedding bash for his son that kicks off on Friday. The groom is his 29-year-old son Anant Ambani, and the bride is 29-year-old Radhika Merchant, the daughter of Viren Merchant, owner of Encore Healthcare.
High-profile guests, from Wall Street executives and global tycoons to celebrities from Hollywood and Bollywood, will be jetting down for the extravagant event, which has hogged media headlines and sparked a social media frenzy. According to multiple local reports, a traditional Hindu ceremony will be held on Friday at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai, potentially causing road closures and traffic diversions. Businesses at the Bandra Kurla Complex, where the convention center is located, have also been instructed to work from home to avoid further congestion. The festivities will conclude with a grand wedding reception on Sunday.
The Ambani family has stayed mum about the star-studded guest list, but multiple media reports have said 16-time Grammy award winner Adele could be one of the main performers. Canadian rapper Drake, boxer Mike Tyson, and internet personality Kim Kardashian will also be invited, according to CNBC TV-18, which obtained the guest list from organizers. Not only celebrities were invited. Politicians such as India’s former president Ram Nath Kovind and various Indian ministers were also on the guest list, along with former UK prime ministers Boris Johnson and Tony Blair. Business executives such as HSBC Holdings Chairman Mark Tucker and Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Jay Lee, as well as Morgan Stanley’s Michael Grimes and FIFA president Gianni Infantino, have reportedly been invited as well.
The father of the groom is currently the world’s eleventh richest man with a net worth of $119 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index. He owns a $1 billion family home in Mumbai — a 27-storey private apartment building called Antila — that has a movie theatre, a snow room, helipads, a salon, and even an ice cream parlor, according to local reports.
Leading up to this weekend’s extravaganza, the couple celebrated with a three-day prenuptial party in March in the Ambani’s hometown of Jamnagar in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The event set tongues wagging when it was reported that the 1,200 guests in attendance were entertained by singer Rihanna, who was paid $8 million to $9 million, local media reported. Elites like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan joined the festivities too. Last week, Canadian pop sensation Justin Bieber reportedly left Mumbai with a $10 million paycheck after performing at the couple’s sangeet — a welcome party for close family and friends of the bride and groom.
Although it remains unclear what the total cost of the wedding will be, wedding planners have estimated that the family has already spent up to $156 million, according to the BBC. Mukesh Ambani has two other children, 32-year-old twins Akash and Isha. Isha’s week-long wedding in 2018 was estimated to cost around $100 million, with a performance by 32-time Grammy winner Beyonce, while Akash’s wedding in 2019 saw performances by Coldplay and Maroon 5, according to local media. All his three children own stakes in Reliance Industries and have seats on the board.
The son of Asia’s richest man is getting married in the culmination of a months-long, star-studded, multi-event mega wedding this weekend, with the main event kicking off Friday. Anant Ambani, the son of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, and longtime girlfriend Radhika Merchant have an epic guest list that includes John Cena, Kim Kardashian, Mark Zuckerberg, Bollywood stars, famous cricket players, politicians, and a who’s who from around the globe. The wedding festivities kicked off in March with events attended by Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, and Bill Gates. Rihanna famously performed at the March party, a three-day event that included 1,200 guests, according to Reuters. The bride and groom also served dinner to 51,000 villagers in Jamnagar.
Another pre-wedding party — a cruise around the Mediterranean — featured performances by Katy Perry, Andrea Bocelli, and the Backstreet Boys, BBC News reports. Several other parties were held earlier this month – including a performance by Justin Bieber, according to BBC – but stars began pouring out of the Mumbai Airport this week for the main event. Here are some of the people who walked the red carpet – yes, they have a red carpet for photo ops – and who are expected to attend the nuptials.
The groom, Anant Ambani, with his parents Mukesh Ambani and Nita Ambani. The elder Ambani is Asia’s richest man, with a fortune worth $123.7 billion, according to Forbes. He is the 11th richest person in the world, thanks mostly to his company which invests in petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecom, retail, and financial services. Reliance Industries also includes a successful broadband service called Jio, and the Jio World Convention Centre will serve as the venue for the main wedding ceremony on Friday, according to Reuters.
Anant is the couple’s youngest son. Their daughter, Isha, got married in 2018 in an $83.8 million wedding, according to GQ India. Her wedding to Anand Piramal, the son of another billionaire, included a performance by Beyonce and is believed to have been the most expensive wedding in India. Their other son, Isha’s twin brother Akash, married Shloka Mehta in 2019 in a wedding that included a performance by Coldplay, GQ India reports.
Wrestler and actor John Cena did his signature “you can’t see me” hand gesture on the red carpet. Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra, who won the Miss World pageant in 2000 and has a successful acting career in the U.S., and singer Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers attended the main event, taking photos on the red carpet. The pair had their own wedding in India in 2018.
Kim and Khloe Kardashian were filmed arriving in India to much fanfare. The pair also posted selfies on social media and showed off their fashions ahead of the event. Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of the Indian state of West Bengal, was seen arriving in Mumbai for the wedding earlier this week. She is the first woman to hold the office of chief minister, a role she took on in 2011.
Famous cricket players – including Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, and Krunal Pandya – were invited to the wedding. Cricket is the most popular sport in India and one of the most popular in the world. Varun Dhawan, one of India’s highest-paid actors with a long slate of Hindi movies, arrives at the main event. Bollywood actress Ananya Panday, the daughter of foreign film actor Chunky Panday, attended the main event. She wore a custom dress with “Anant’s Brigade” embroidered on the back to show support for the groom. Indian film director Atlee Kumar’s wife also donned an “Anant’s Brigade” dress.
Arjun Kapoor, an actor who is the son of two film producers and part of a famous Bollywood film family, attended the main event. Ivanka and her daughter Arabella attended pre-wedding festivities in March. Trump was photographed with her husband, Jared Kushner, at the event. Some of India’s most famous actors, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Shaheen Bhatt, and Aditya Roy Kapur, attended pre-wedding festivities earlier this month.
A custom mural, strings of lights covering the Ambani residence, and fun fashions on the red carpet make up some of the lavish details of the event.
Source: Sopa Images, Lightrocket, Getty Images, Reuters, Hindustan Times, BBC News, GQ India, CNBC TV-18, Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, Forbes, and local media reports.
