Over the last few months, the news of Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, marrying Radhika Merchant, daughter of Viren A. Merchant, has been nearly impossible to miss.
The grand wedding celebrations took place from July 12 to 14 at Mumbai’s Jio World Convention Center, captivating the nation with its opulence and the attendance of numerous celebrities and prominent figures.
The wedding rituals, which included the couple exchanging garlands and walking around the sacred fire, began on Friday and continued past midnight.
A lavish wedding party
In the aftermath of the lavish celebration, reports have emerged about the luxurious gifts bestowed upon Anant’s close friends. According to various media sources, Anant surprised his groomsmen with Audemars Piguet watches valued at $200,000 each.
These exclusive timepieces have been a hot topic online, with guests sharing videos of the extravagant gift hampers that included the watches, showcasing the scale of Anant’s generosity.
Anant commissioned a custom set of 25 limited edition Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Luminary Edition watches. Notable recipients reportedly include Shah Rukh Khan, Ranveer Singh, Shikhar Pahariya, Veer Pahariya, and Meezaan Jafri, as evidenced by social media updates and celebrity interactions.
The gifted watch features a 41 mm pink gold case, is 9.5 mm thick, and has a transparent back with a secure crown. It boasts a pink gold dial with a distinctive pattern, blue counters, pink gold hour markers, and luminescent hands. Additionally, it includes a pink gold inner bezel and a self-winding movement that displays the week, day, date, moon phase, month, leap year, and time.
Reliance Employees’ Gifts
While the groomsmen received these high-end watches, Reliance employees were also given wedding gifts, albeit of a different nature. Many employees shared images and videos on social media of the red gift box they received, which contained Haldiram Bhujia. The box featured gold lettering that read: “With the divine grace of our gods and goddesses, we celebrate the wedding of Anant and Radhika. Best wishes, Nita and Mukesh Ambani.”
High profile guests
The celebrations continued with a “blessing ceremony” hosted by the Ambanis for friends and family members to meet the couple and wish them a happy married life. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended a reception organized by the Ambanis on Saturday evening, where the newlyweds reportedly touched Modi’s feet as a show of respect and sought his blessings.
Reality TV star Kim Kardashian and professional wrestler and Hollywood actor John Cena were among the guests seen arriving for the wedding. Kardashian sisters Kim and Khloé were even spotted taking a ride in a motorized rickshaw through the bustling streets of Mumbai before joining the wedding ceremonies. International guests wore traditional clothes by major Indian fashion designers, with Cena and Nick Jonas donning embroidered sherwanis.
The event drew an impressive guest list, including former British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson; former U.S. special envoy John Kerry; Saudi Aramco CEO Amin H. Nasser; and celebrities like Adele, Lana Del Rey, Drake, and David Beckham. Bollywood icons Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Ranbir Kapoor attended the wedding, dancing to popular Hindi movie songs. Indian cricket legends Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, and Suryakumar Yadav were also among the invitees.
Star studed performances and Entertainment
Nigerian artist Rema performed at the wedding for a reported fee of $3 million, according to Hindustan Times. The Ambani family also spent about $100 million, and possibly far more, on their son’s nuptials, making this one of the most expensive weddings. While the Ambanis have not publicly disclosed the total expenditure, estimates range from around $150 million to over half a billion dollars.
This sum covers costs such as booking musicians, chartering private jets, and hosting a feast for nearby underprivileged communities. Roads were sealed to non-wedding guests near the event spaces, while the groom led a convoy of luxury vehicles down the street to kick off the weekend’s festivities.
Pre-Wedding Celebrations
The weekend marked the culmination of the couple’s celebrations, but it is far from the first event in honor of Ambani and Merchant. In March, the Ambani family invited more than a thousand people to their estate in Jamnagar, India, including Mark Zuckerberg, Hillary Clinton, and Ivanka Trump. This event included similar high-security measures and luxurious displays.
The wedding celebrations featured months of prenuptial events, including performances by Rihanna(who was paid about $6.3 million), Akon, and Diljit Dosanjh, as well as a three-day cruise from Italy to France with performances by Katy Perry and Pitbull. The Ambani family also organized a mass wedding for over 50 underprivileged couples as part of the festivities.
In the lead-up to the wedding, Justin Bieber(who was also paid an estimated $10 million) performed for hundreds of guests at a pre-wedding concert, and Bollywood stars Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh, and Salman Khan also gave performances. The family has a history of star-studded events, with Beyoncé performing at pre-wedding festivities for Anant’s sister in 2018.
Background on the Ambani Family
Mukesh Ambani, the world’s ninth-richest man with a net worth of $116 billion, owns a 27-story family compound in Mumbai, among other assets. The groom, 29-year-old Anant, oversees the conglomerate’s renewable and green energy expansion and runs a 3,000-acre animal rescue center in Gujarat. The bride, also 29, is the daughter of pharmaceutical tycoon Viren Merchant and the marketing director for Encore Healthcare.
The extravagant wedding and the accompanying display of opulence have sparked discussions about rising inequality in India, where the gap between rich and poor continues to grow. The event also led to traffic diversions around the wedding venue to manage the influx of guests amidst Mumbai’s heavy monsoon rains, which have caused flooding and flight disruptions.