MUMBAI: The lavish wedding celebrations of the son of Asia's richest man resumed on Saturday with a star-studded guest list that included Hollywood celebrities, global business leaders and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Billionaire tycoon Mukesh Ambani's youngest son Anant and his fiancée Radhika Merchant, both 29, tied the knot in Mumbai earlier today after months of pre-wedding parties that set a new benchmark in wedding extravaganza.
Saturday's itinerary included a blessing ceremony during which the world's rich and famous greeted the couple at the wedding venue, a 16,000-seat convention center owned by the Ambani family conglomerate.
Footage from inside shared by local broadcasters showed Modi, whose policies have been warmly supported by the groom's father during his decade in power, was among those invited to pay their respects.
The event followed a formal ceremony and party on Friday attended by the likes of socialite Kim Kardashian, actor John Cena and former British prime ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson.
FIFA chief Gianni Infantino, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and Samsung chairman Jay Y Lee were among hundreds of other famous figures in attendance.
“Best wishes to the new couple and double happiness!” Chinese ambassador to India Xu Feihong posted on social media platform X along with pictures of the couple from inside the venue.
This weekend's celebrations conclude on Sunday with a reception party and cap off months of extravagant pre-wedding festivities.
Previous events this year included a party at the Ambanis' ancestral home, where a purpose-built Hindu temple was unveiled, and private performances by R&B star Rihanna and Canadian Justin Bieber.
Guests at the gala included Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and former US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka, as well as some of India's top sports and entertainment personalities.
In June, the couple embarked on a four-day Mediterranean cruise with 1,200 guests, with singer Katy Perry performing at a masked ball at a French chateau in Cannes.
This year, Mumbai overtook Beijing to become the Asian city with the most billionaires, according to a survey by a Chinese research institute.
But even though India is the world’s fastest-growing economy, the gap between rich and poor remains huge. More than half of the country’s 1.4 billion people live on less than $4 a day, according to World Bank figures from 2021.
Although the wedding and its VIP attendants have been the subject of relentless and glowing media coverage in India, public reaction has been mixed.
“They must have spent over $60 million, while I will struggle to earn just $400 this month,” said Jitesh Ingle, a general store worker in Mumbai. AFP.
“But that's our life. What can we do? We can only watch their celebrations on YouTube.”
Fortune of 123 billion dollars
Anant's father, Mukesh, is chairman of Reliance Industries, a family-founded conglomerate that has become India's largest company by market capitalization.
The patriarch is the eleventh richest person in the world with a fortune of more than 123 billion dollars, according to Forbesand is no stranger to making statements when it comes to family marriages.
In 2018, she held the most expensive wedding to date in India for her daughter, which reportedly cost $100 million and featured American singer Beyoncé.
The family's lucrative interests include retail partnerships with Armani and other luxury brands, more than 40% of India's mobile phone market and an Indian Premier League cricket team.
His 27-storey family home, Antilia, is one of Mumbai's most prominent landmarks, said to have cost over $1 billion to build and employs a permanent staff of 600.
Merchant is the daughter of well-known pharmaceutical magnates.
