In March, Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, threw a three-day pre-wedding party for his son, inviting 1,200 guests including former world leaders, tech tycoons and Bollywood A-listers, and featuring a performance by singer-songwriter Rihanna.
This was just the beginning of months of lavish pre-wedding celebrations that grabbed headlines and caused a social media frenzy.
According to media reports, in May, the family took guests on a three-day pre-wedding cruise from Italy to France, which featured a DJ set by David Guetta, a rendition of Katy Perry’s hit “Firework,” and a closing performance by Pitbull.
Finally, next week, 29-year-old Anant Ambani will marry his longtime girlfriend Radhika Merchant in what many are calling the wedding of the year.
Here’s what we know:
Who are the Ambani family?
The groom’s father is Mukesh Ambani, 66, who is currently the ninth-richest person in the world with a net worth of $116 billion, according to Forbes magazine. He is also the richest person in Asia.
His company, Reliance Industries, is a huge conglomerate with annual revenues of more than $100 billion, with businesses ranging from petrochemicals, oil and gas to telecommunications and retail.
Among other assets, the Ambani family owns Antilla, a 27-storey private apartment complex in Mumbai valued at $1 billion, which includes three helipads, a 160-car garage, a private cinema, a swimming pool and a fitness centre.
Mr Ambani’s critics say his companies prospered mainly because of political connections during the Congress government in the 1970s and 1980s and under Prime Minister Narendra Modi since 2014. They say India’s “crony capitalism” has helped certain companies like Mr Ambani’s thrive.
The family elders have begun to hand over the reins to their two sons and daughters: Akash Ambani, the eldest, is now chairman of the company’s telecoms business Reliance Jio, and Isha runs the retail business, while Anant, the groom, the youngest, has joined the company’s new energy business.
Who are the bride and groom?
Anant, who has a bachelor’s degree from Brown University, oversees the conglomerate’s renewable and green energy expansion, according to Reliance Industries’ website.
He also runs a 3,000-acre animal rescue center called Vantara in his family’s hometown of Jamnagar, Gujarat, where guests spent days celebrating at a lavish pre-wedding party in March.
According to Vogue magazine, the bride, Radhika Merchant, 29, is the daughter of pharmaceutical tycoon Viren Merchant and serves as marketing director for his company Encore Healthcare.
She told the magazine that the pair were introduced through mutual friends in 2017. “There was something special between us from that first meeting and we started dating very quickly,” she said.
When is the wedding and what are your expectations?
According to local media, the main wedding ceremony will take place on July 12, followed by a grand reception on July 14. The celebrations will take place at Ambani’s Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai and at his family home.
The date was reportedly chosen based on the couple’s birth charts, as is typical of Hindu custom and considered auspicious, and as per tradition, the wedding will be preceded by several days of traditional wedding events and rituals.
On Friday, social media in India was abuzz with videos of the sangeet, a ceremony in which the bride and groom’s families perform dance routines for guests. Local media reported that the ceremony also included performances from Bollywood stars Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh and Salman Khan, as well as Justin Bieber, who flew to Mumbai for the event.
The family also organised a mass wedding for over 50 underprivileged couples last week as part of pre-wedding celebrations.
Lavish parties are the Ambani family’s speciality and next week’s event is expected to attract many more celebrities, billionaires and world leaders.
The guest list for her pre-wedding party in March included Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, the former leaders of Canada and Qatar, and Bollywood A-listers like Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone. In addition to Rihanna, Akon and Diljit Dosanjh, the Punjabi singer who rose to global fame for his performance at Coachella, also took to the stage.
When his daughter got married in 2018, Mr Ambani threw high-profile celebrations and a pre-wedding gala featuring a performance by pop singer Beyoncé, while former US secretaries of state Hillary Clinton and John Kerry mingled with Indian celebrities and Bollywood stars in the western Indian city of Udaipur.
