Anant Ambani weds Radhika Merchant at star-studded event

Mumbai: Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Asia's richest man, on Friday married pharmaceutical heiress and childhood sweetheart Radhika Merchant at a star-studded event attended by celebrities from across the globe, politicians, who's who of Hindi and south Indian cinema world and almost all the top cricketers of the country.

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian and her sister Khloe, Nigerian rapper Rema, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, and global business tycoons ranging from oil giant Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser to Samsung Electronics chairman Jay Lee and drug major GSK plc chief executive Emma Walmsley were in attendance at the event that has been dubbed as the 'wedding of the year'.

Almost the entire top rung bollywood actors -- from Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan to Ajay Devgn, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Tiger Shroff and Varun Dhawan -- were present, most with their families, while superstars Rajinikanth, Ram Charan and Mahesh Babu led the entourage from down south.

The wedding saw the entire gamut of Indian cricketers descend -- from icons like Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni to yesteryear great Krish Srikkanth and latest sensations Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav.

Anant, 29, tied the knot with Radhika, daughter of Indian pharma tycoons Viren and Shaila Merchant, in a traditional Hindu ceremony at Mumbai's Jio World Drive -- a convention centre built and owned by the Ambani family.

Earlier, the groom, dressed in a rust orange sherwani, set off from Antilia -- the Ambani family residence -- in a luxurious red car covered in strings of white flowers for the convention centre, where the 'baraat' assembled for a short journey to the mandap.

Designer duo Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla's pastel hues dominated the Ambani family's attire -- from father and oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh, to mother Nita, sister Isha and her husband Anand Piramal, and brother Akash. Aakash's wife Shloka Metha was the only exception who wore a stunning hot pink lehenga adorned with crystals.

And the dress code was followed by the guests as well -- both Indian and foreign.

American actor and rapper John Cena, and Tamil superstar Rajinikanth joined Anil Kapoor, Ranveer Singh and groom Anant Ambani himself for a dance in the 'baraat'. Shah Rukh Khan hugged and danced with Nita as she and her husband welcomed King Khan and his family.

Some like Ananya Panday sported 'Anant's Brigade' message on their dress for the baraat. Some others had 'Mere Yaar ki Shaadi' written.

The three-day wedding extravaganza is the final stop in a string of lavish parties the family has hosted since March. The couple were engaged in January 2023 and the Ambanis have hosted three lavish pre-wedding parties.

First a three-day pre-wedding celebration was held in March in the family's refinery township of Jamnagar in Gujarat that hosted tech billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner in the 1,200-strong guest list, and had an exclusive performance by Rihanna.

David Blaine did magic tricks and the festivities also involved a trip to Ambani's 'animal rescue center' housing exotic animals.

In May, the Ambanis set off on a four-day Mediterranean cruise starting in the Italian city of Palermo, featuring on-deck concerts from the Backstreet Boys, Pitbull, and David Guetta, and a performance by Katy Perry at a masquerade ball at the Château de la Croix des Gardes mansion in France. DJ David Guetta played at a toga party at sea. The cruise ended in Italy's Portofino, where tenor Andrea Bocelli serenaded the party in the town square.

Last week, Justin Bieber performed at the 'sangeet' or musical night.

The lavish wedding itself will be a three-day affair, with a small dinner for exclusive guests on Saturday and a grand reception on July 14.

The Ambanis have not revealed how much Anant's wedding is costing. But the gala scale of the celebration included a Rs 5-6 lakh per piece invitation consisting of an intricate chest incorporating a mini silver temple, and three Falcon-2000 jets being rented to ferry wedding guests to the event.

It was rumoured Rihanna had been paid $7 million for her performance and Bieber $10 million (close to Rs 84 crore).

Mukesh and Nita in the past had lavish weddings for their other children too -- Beyoncé performed at daughter Isha Ambani's 2018 nuptials that boasted guests like Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, and a year later Coldplay's Chris Martin performed at Aaksh's pre-wedding bash in St Moritz, Switzerland, and Maroon 5 at his wedding in Mumbai.

The 2018 wedding of Isha was billed as the most expensive wedding in India to date with some estimates putting the cost up to $100 million.

Mukesh Ambani, 67, is at present the world's 11th richest man with a net worth of $119 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaire Index. He spent the last two decades in transforming Reliance Industries, founded by his father in 1966 as a stodgy oil and petrochemicals giant, into a global empire spanning telecoms, retail, financial services, cricket and luxury fashion.

Anant Ambani is the youngest of his three children, all of whom are on the board of Reliance Industries. He is involved in Reliance's energy businesses and is on the board of Reliance Foundation.

The guest list includes former Indian president Ram Nath Kovind, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, and Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

Anant styled the sherwani, which featured a bandhgala neckline, intricate golden embroidery, front button closures adorned with precious gems, full-length sleeves, and padded shoulders, with white pyjamas, beige sneakers embellished with gold sequins, and a gold elephant brooch.

Not just the Ambani family complemented the groom-to-be in ethnic outfit, the guests arriving too wore designer Indian dresses.

John Cena arrived at the wedding in a powder blue bandhgala with silver embroidery. Superstar Rajnikanth, daughter Soundarya and her husband and son wore traditional Tamil wear.

The Kardashians, who arrived here late on Thursday to a red carpet welcome at the Taj Mahal Hotel, took an auto rickshaw ride through the bustling streets of Mumbai ahead of the wedding. The sisters are said to have brought a team of stylists, including celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton, along with a group of producers to capture every detail of their trip.