The pre-wedding celebrations have lasted longer than some marriages.
And finally, after a warm-up including an opulent three-day party with 1,200 of their closest friends, concerts by Rihanna and Andrea Bocelli, a multimillion-pound cruise around the Mediterranean that drew complaints about noise from locals and a firework display over Cannes, Anant Ambani, the son of India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, will marry Radhika Merchant, both 29, the daughter of wealthy industrialists.
The three-day wedding itself — which begins on Friday evening with the traditional Hindu ceremony, followed by the shubh aashirwad or blessings ceremony on Saturday, and a reception on Sunday — would make an extravagant maharajah blush. While the cost of the months-long wedding celebrations has not been confirmed, analysts have estimated that they may have cost up to 50 billion rupees (£462 million). This would still represent a small fraction of Ambani’s net worth of $123 billion (£94 billion), according to Forbes.
As if any further show of their wealth was needed, the Ambanis have taken over large parts of Mumbai for the weekend’s lavish finale, causing further chaos in the city’s transport system. About 1,300 people are expected to attend, including A-list names from home and abroad. Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, is expected to make a brief appearance, as well as the former British prime ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson, and John Kerry, the former US secretary of state.
The reality TV sisters Kim and Khloe Kardashian, the former boxing heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and the actor Jean-Claude Van Damme are also on the guest list. Mumbai rumour mills have said that David and Victoria Beckham could attend and that Adele, Lana del Ray and Drake will perform. Bollywood royalty such as Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Ranveer Singh will be there.
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• Ambani wedding: can Asia’s richest man top the $1bn warm-up?
The lavishness of the wedding is in keeping with the celebrations for other Ambani children. Hillary Clinton was among attendees at Isha Ambani’s pre-wedding bash in 2018, which featured a performance by Beyoncé. A year later, the eldest son Akash Ambani’s wedding included a performance by Coldplay.
The latest event is dominating Indian media, with one outlet providing minute-by-minute updates and some calling it the country’s own royal wedding. The events will take place at the Jio World Convention Centre, owned by the Ambanis, as well as the family’s 27-storey Mumbai skyscraper — which has a ballroom, swimming pool and cinema.
“You think they have done the absolute maximum any multi-billionaire could do barring taking over the pyramids but the next day they go out and push things to an even higher level of lavishness,” said one guest.
The wedding is a statement of the wealth and power of the father of the groom, Mukesh Ambani, 67, who is worth an estimated $116 billion, as well as an astonishing display of the riches of India’s new elite.
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The opulence was not confined to the hosts. One of the wedding guests was shown carrying a $6,000 (£4,600) Judith Leiber crystal clutch handbag.
However, despite the celebrations and wall-to-wall coverage of the event, it has not been without criticism.
Police have put up traffic diversions around the Indian west coast city, claiming it is a public event, leading to Mumbai residents venting their anger at traffic cops. “If it’s a public event, can I go inside?” asked one.
Many called it outrageous that the Ambanis could disrupt life in the city for a private event. “Declare it a public holiday, since we won’t be able to move around,” said one person on social media.
Every hotel around the convention centre is fully booked. If any room is available further away, it is going for upwards of $1,200 a night. Suites are $6,000.
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The extravagance, which has also included Katy Perry and Backstreet Boys concerts, performances by the magician David Blaine and the Cirque du Soleil, and the family releasing a video of Mukesh and his wife, Nita, and their grandchildren in an open car lip-syncing to an old Hindi song, has highlighted the vast gap between India’s super-rich and ordinary people.
• ‘Royals’ and Rihanna at Ambani wedding warm-up
Mumbai is famous for the stark inequality between the rich and poor. More than 60 per cent of residents live in slums, giving rise to the moniker “Slumbai”. As celebrities flew in for the wedding, residents of Mumbai waded through flooded homes and streets submerged in dirty thigh-high water, thanks to recent rains of the monsoon season.
An Oxfam report last year showed that India’s richest 1 per cent owned more than 40 per cent of the country’s total wealth. The number of Indian billionaires is increasing while, according to the World Bank, 60 per cent of Indians live on less than £2.40 a day.
One of the most striking themes of the celebrations has been the Ambanis’ love of ornate jewellery.
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Nita Ambani has worn a giant emerald and diamond necklace that was once part of the Mughal empire’s jewellery treasury and is said to be worth $59 million. That is the same as the cost of the “wedding of the century” last November between the American heiress Madeline Brockway and Jacob LaGrone at the Palace of Versailles.
Anant too has displayed his wealth with, among others, a Richard Mille watch costing $2.2 million. “I’m not really into watches, but after seeing that one, I think I might be,” Mark Zuckerberg said at one of the celebrations.
