The four-day wedding extravaganza in Mumbai of the son of Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest and the world’s 11th wealthiest businessman, which is estimated to cost more than €550 million, will bring large areas of India’s financial capital city to a standstill until Monday.
The festivities around the marriage between Anant Ambani (29) and Radhika Merchant (also 29), being attended by local and foreign luminaries including former British prime ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson and Hollywood and Bollywood stars, began at the city’s grand World Convention Centre on Friday.
Mumbai police have deemed the wedding a public event and restricted traffic movement around the marriage venue in Mumbai’s central business district to event attendees until Monday, much to the chagrin of local residents.
Prime minister Narendra Modi, considered close to Mukesh Ambani (66), is also expected to attend the wedding, along with senior cabinet colleagues. Mukesh Ambani leads Reliance Industries, which runs one of the world’s largest oil refineries and India’s fastest growing telecommunication network along with other businesses.
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Other celebrities who will attend include former world heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson, actor Jean Claude Van Damme, reality television star Kim Kardashian, domestic and overseas billionaire businessmen and tycoons, and top Indian cricketers and trendsetters.
According to media reports Mukesh Ambani, whose 27-storey Mumbai home is possibly the world’s most expensive private residence, with floor space of over 400,000sq ft, has hired three luxury Falcon-2000 executive jets to ferry guests from around India to Mumbai for the wedding.
Friday’s traditional Hindu nuptial ceremony is the final rite in a string of lavish events that began in March, when the first pre-wedding party took place at the Ambani oil refinery coastal township of Jamnagar in western India.
Reportedly costing more than €119 million, the three-day festivities featured a private concert by Rihanna, while the 1,200-odd guests included Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Ivanka Trump, former Canadian and Australian prime ministers, Bollywood stars and Indian businessmen.
Because of Ambani’s close relationship with the federal government, the Indian Air Force was involved in the jamboree to manage the private air traffic at Jamnagar, and a special immigration facility was set up for 72 hours for overseas guests.
These revelries also featured a nine-page dress code for guests, 2,500 varied dishes prepared by 65 world-renowned chefs and free return charter flights for all guests to and from New Delhi and Mumbai.
A luxury four-day European cruise from Italy to France followed in May for 800 guests, who were entertained en route by the Backstreet Boys, singer Katy Perry and rapper Pitbull. Last week Justin Bieber performed for hundreds of guests at a pre-wedding concert in Mumbai.
The wedding invitations that followed comprised a large golden-hued box resembling a Hindu temple, which played devotional music when opened. It was accompanied by costly “doruka” pashmina shawls, made from the hair of Himalayan goats which are in danger of extinction.
Bloomberg financial columnist Menaka Doshi said the Ambani wedding was poised to “outdo” all celebrity Indian weddings known for their lavishness and extravagance and also served as a “branding exercise” for the business group.
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