Mukesh Ambani, whose businesses range from petrochemicals to telecoms and retail, splurged on his son’s marriage that began in March and traversed the globe
Not long ago, the world embraced intimate weddings, with couples tying the knot in the presence of only a handful of their closest family and friends. The idea of a big, fat Indian wedding had taken a backseat. But the July 12 marriage of Anant, the youngest son of Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani (net worth: $113.5 billion), that began in March with over-the-top, beyond-extravagant celebrations and a price tag of $600 million, has flipped that notion.
Wars, floods, famines, collapsing bridges, and assassination attempts all took a backseat to the six-month wedding of Anant and his childhood sweetheart Radhika Merchant, the daughter of Viren Merchant, a pharmaceutical manufacturer with a net worth of Rs 7.5 billion ($90 million). A post-wedding bash in London will also take place, around the end of this month.
The pre-wedding events began in Jamnagar, Gujarat, in western India, where the sprawling Reliance refinery complex – the mainstay of Ambani’s flagship Reliance Industries Ltd – is situated. (Currently, one third of Jamnagar’s production is from Russian crude oil.)
Beside the usual wedding-related expenses and a showcase of India’s finest fashion designers, the Ambanis flew in celebrities from the world over to take part in what the Mumbai Police labeled a “public event,” to the outrage of inconvenienced residents. From Rihanna to Katy Perry to Justin Beiber to the Backstreet Boys, David Guetta and even Andrea Bocelli, recruited to perform for them, the Ambanis left no stone unturned.
Also, incidentally, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who like the Ambanis is an ethnic Gujarati, also turned up to bless the newlywed couple.
Opulence and India’s complex socioeconomic condition
The first time the Ambani wedding caught global attention was following Rihanna’s performance in Jamnagar. Also at the jam were the who’s who of India’s elite – no one, in India or overseas, can resist videos of Bollywood’s three superstar Khans dancing together. As clips of Rihanna’s act went viral, social media was rife with videos wondering who this Indian family was, and about the clout they hold in the country.