After more than 500 days since the first mehendi ceremony took place, Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, has finally married Radhika Merchant at a three-day celebration in Mumbai that began on Friday.
The wedding dates of July 12 to 14 were reportedly chosen based on the couple's birth charts, as is deemed auspicious in Hindu custom.
The grand wedding at the 7.4-hectare Jio World Centre, a business and cultural district in Mumbai owned by the Ambani family, was already making headlines with its star-studded guest arrivals even before the first ceremony took place.
Photos shared online showed Kim and Khloe Kardashian being mobbed by photographers outside the airport, as well as Nigerian rapper and singer Rema, who performed his hit Calm Down at the event. Former British prime ministers Boris Johnson and Tony Blair were also pictured arriving.
This weekend's event was preceded by a sangeet (a pre-wedding musical night) last week, in which Justin Bieber performed.
Before that, the Ambanis have taken their wedding celebration across Europe, with performers including Katy Perry, Backstreet Boys, David Guetta, Andrea Bocelli and Pitbull.
In March last year, they hosted a headline-grabbing pre-wedding party in Jamnagar, Gujarat, on the west coast of India. Spread over three themed days, the event had a guest list with the who's-who of Bollywood celebrities, Indian cricketers, politicians and business tycoons including Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft's Bill Gates. Rihanna performed at one of the parties.
Here's everything we know about the main wedding.
Venue and schedule
Jio World Centre in the heart of Mumbai is the venue for the main wedding. Mumbai Traffic Police announced roads near the venue will be open only for “event vehicles” between 1pm and midnight until Monday, with the curbs on movement irking some locals, many of whom are questioning why the government is inconveniencing the public for a private event.
According to the invitation, the three-day celebration will begin with the “shubh vivaah” or auspicious wedding, with the dress code listed as “Indian traditional”.
This will be followed by “shubh aashirdwad” (the latter word means blessings) on Saturday, with guests expected to be dressed in “Indian formal”.
Celebrations will culminate in “mangal utsav” or the wedding reception on Sunday with “Indian chic” being the dress code.
On Monday, there will be a “special reception” for the family's household staff.
The guests
While Bollywood stars were expected to attend in full force, joining the Kardashians were several international celebrities including Rema, wrestler and actor John Cena, actor Jean-Claude Van Damme and boxing legend Mike Tyson. David and Victoria Beckham are also reportedly on the guest list, while Priyanka Chopra and her husband Nick Jonas arrived on Thursday.
Besides former British politicians Johnson and Blair, India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee were also set to attend. While India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not included in the guest list shared by organisers, posters of Modi were erected on Friday by his ruling party along the road leading to the Jio World Centre. Modi is visiting the Mumbai area “to inaugurate a project” and may briefly attend the Ambani wedding, police official Manoj Shinde told Reuters.
From the business world, Samsung chairman Jay Y Lee was spotted at the airport and Amin H Nasser, chief executive of Saudi Aramco, is expected to attend, as are Mark Tucker, chairman of HSBC Holdings, Emma Walmsley of drug manufacturers GSK, Jim Taiclet of Lockheed Martin and Fifa president Gianni Infantino.
Ambani home decked out
Antilla, the Ambani's $4.6 billion skyscraper home in Mumbai, has been decked out for the event. A landmark on its own, the 27-floor building comes with a 168-car garage, three helipads and a 50-seat theatre among other amenities, and is maintained by a permanent staff of 600.
On Friday, folk musicians performed outside the heavily decorated entrance even as heavy rains lashed Mumbai.
Who are the Ambanis?
The father of the groom, Mukesh Ambani, 66, is the world’s ninth richest man with a net worth of $116 billion, according to Forbes. He is also the richest person in Asia.
His Reliance Industries is a massive conglomerate, reporting more than $100 billion in annual revenue, according to Associated Press, with interests ranging from petrochemicals and oil and gas to telecoms and retail.
Groom Anant oversees the conglomerate’s renewable and green energy expansion and is a board member of Reliance Industries along with his siblings Isha and Akash. He also runs a 1,200-hectare animal rescue centre in Gujarat state’s Jamnagar, the family’s hometown.
Mukesh's wife Nita leads Reliance Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the company, and is a patron of many arts foundations. Her Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre has been touted as a first-of-its-kind venue in India, bringing the world of visual arts and performing arts together under one roof.
