New Delhi.-Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest man, is celebrating with lavish festivities the wedding of his youngest son, Anant, to Radhika Merchant, the daughter of pharmaceutical industry tycoons.
Previous celebrations have included a European cruise for 1,200 guests, a specially built Hindu temple at the Ambani family’s ancestral home and private performances by R&B star Rihanna and Canadian Justin Bieber.
Asia’s richest man, Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani, is celebrating his son’s final wedding this weekend, a show of wealth and power in a country experiencing rapid economic growth and plagued by tremendous inequality.
Ambani’s youngest son Anant and his fiancée Radhika Merchant, both 29, are set to marry in a three-day Hindu ceremony in India’s financial capital, Mumbai, on Friday.
Pre-wedding celebrations have already included a three-day gala party in March for 1,500 guests in the state of Gujarat, a cruise for 1,200 guests in the Mediterranean, a specially built Hindu temple and concerts by Rihanna, the Backstreet Boys and Justin Bieber.
This weekend’s celebrations will be set to take a new level with the arrival of celebrities, politicians and businessmen in Mumbai.
Kim and Khloé Kardashian, famous for their influence on social media and for broadcasting their lives on reality shows, arrived at the event on Friday and posted pictures on Instagram stories.
Two former British prime ministers, Conservative Boris Johnson and Labour’s Tony Blair, were also seen at Mumbai airport before the start of the celebrations.
It is not the first wedding organised by Ambani, who is denounced by critics as the “maharaja of modern times” and who inherited a thriving oil, gas and petrochemical industry.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife, among the guests. Photo: APFormer Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife, among the guests. Photo: AP
In 2017, she organised a similar ceremony for her daughter, the most expensive wedding ever held in India, reportedly costing $100 million and featuring American singer Beyoncé.
The lavishness of the event has sparked criticism for its contrast with the poverty that exists in the country, the most populous in the world.
India is the world’s fifth-largest economy and one of the most dynamic, but national per capita income is only $1,174; and millions of people are hungry. The country ranked 111th out of 125 countries in the Global Hunger Index in 2023.
Perhaps to preempt criticism, Ambani hosted a banquet for 50,000 people in his hometown of Jamnagar in Gujarat in the first part of the celebrations.
She also organised mass weddings for 52 underprivileged couples near Mumbai and pledged to support “hundreds more such weddings” across the country.
Ambani, 67, heads Reliance Industries, India’s largest company by market capitalization.
The tycoon, born in 1957 and raised in Bombay, has a fortune valued at 123 billion dollars, and is the eleventh richest person in the world, according to the Forbes list.
Ambani is also a close ally of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was re-elected for a third term in June.
The businessman has spent the past few decades transforming the petrochemical giant he inherited into a global empire with lucrative interests in retail, telecommunications and a cricket team.
Anant Ambani’s fiancée Merchant is the daughter of pharmaceutical tycoons.
Her dresses include custom designs by Versace, Dolce & Gabbana and Yves Saint Laurent, she told Vogue magazine.
Another of her garments is printed with a love letter from her fiancé, according to the magazine. “I want to be able to show it to my children and grandchildren and tell them, ‘This is what our love was like,'” she said.
The pre-wedding celebrations began in March with a three-day gala party for 1,500 guests in the state of Gujarat.
Guests included Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and former US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka.
During the event, American singer Rihanna gave a concert, her first since last year’s Super Bowl. Illusionist David Blaine performed magic tricks.
The festivities also included a visit to the Ambanis’ “animal rescue centre”, which houses exotic mammals, and a specially built Hindu temple complex.
The second leg, in June, consisted of a four-day Mediterranean cruise with 1,200 guests, Merchant told Vogue.
Singer Katy Perry performed at a masked ball in a French castle in Cannes. Backstreet Boys, American rapper Pitbull and DJ David Guetta also provided entertainment.
The cruise ended in the Italian city of Portofino, where tenor Andrea Bocelli offered a serenade in the city square.Clarín.
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2024-07-16 04:23:49
