The son of Asia’s richest man is getting married in a lavish spring wedding

MUMBAI, India (AP) – The youngest son of Mukesh Ambani, the richest man in Asiamarried his long-term girlfriend early on Saturday in what many called the wedding of the year, which featured global celebrities, businessmen and politicians, who highlighting the billionaire’s impressive wealth and growing power.

Wedding rituals, including the exchange of crowns by the couple and circumambulation of the sacred fire; started Friday and they were finished after midnight.

The celebrations of Anant Ambani marrying Radhika Merchant It took place at Ambani’s Jio Global Conference Center in Mumbai and the family home. The wedding was the culmination of months of wedding events that featured appearances by pop stars including Rihanna and Justin Bieber.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended a reception hosted by the Ambanis on Saturday evening.

The Ambanis held a “blessing party” for friends and family members to meet the couple and wish them a happy married life.

India Today television news channel reported that the newly married couple touched Modi’s feet as a sign of respect and sought his blessings.

The four-day wedding festivities began on Friday with a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony and will be followed by a grand reception that will continue through the weekend. Guest list includes former British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson; John Kerry, former US special envoy for climate, Saudi Aramco CEO Amin H. Nasser; and Adele, Lana Del Rey, Drake and David Beckham, according to local media. The Ambani family did not confirm the guest list.

Television news channels showed the arrival of celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, who wore red clothes, and professional wrestler and Hollywood actor John Cena.

Kardashian sisters Kim and Khloé rode a motor rickshaw through the busy streets of Mumbai Friday before joining the wedding festivities, news agency Press Trust of India reported.

The international guests were dressed in traditional clothes are leading Indian fashion designers. They wear embroidered sherwanis – long-sleeved outerwear worn by South Asian men. Cena came in a sky blue sherwani and white pants. Nick Jonas wore a pink sherwani and white pants.

Bollywood icons Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Ranbir Kapoor attended the wedding and danced to popular Hindi film songs. Indian cricketers, including icons Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, were among those invited.

The police imposed a traffic barrier around the wedding venue from Friday to Monday to deal with the rush of tourists who were flying in from Mumbai. heavy monsoon rains caused flooding and flight disruptions last week.

The lavish decorations and lavish display that comes with weddings has led many to question the rise of inequality in India, where the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. The incident has also sparked anger among some Mumbai residents, who say they are struggling due to the snarling traffic.

“It affects our salaries. “I don’t care much about marriage,” said Vikram, a taxi driver who uses only one name.

The groom’s father, Mukesh Ambani, is the ninth richest man in the world, with a net worth of $116 billion, according to Forbes. He is the richest person in Asia. His Reliance Industries is a corporation that reports more than $100 billion in annual revenue, with interests that include petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecommunications and retail.

The Ambani family owns, among others, a 27-story family building in Mumbai worth $1 billion. The building has three helipads, a 160-car garage and a private entertainment area.

The groom, 29-year-old Anant, oversees the renewed expansion of the conglomerate’s green energy. He also owns an animal rescue center on 3,000 hectares (about 1,200 acres) in the Gujarat state of Jamnagar, the family’s hometown.

The bride, Radhika Merchant, also 29, is the daughter of pharmaceutical tycoon Viren Merchant and is the marketing director of his company, Encore Healthcare, according to Vogue.

Ambani’s critics say his company relied on political connections during the Congress Party-led governments in the 1970s and 80s, and under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rule after 2014.

The Ambani family’s pre-wedding celebrations have been lavish and star-studded from the start.

In March, they threw a three-day bash before the wedding for Anant who had 1,200 guests, including top world leaders, technologists and Bollywood megastars, and performances by Rihanna, Akon and Diljit Dosanjh, the Punjabi singer who became known internationally when he played Coachella. The event was also attended by tech billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates.

It was the beginning of an elaborate, months-long pre-wedding celebration that grabbed headlines and sparked a social media frenzy.

In May, the family took guests on a three-day trip from Italy to France, which included Katy Perry performing her hit song “Firework” and a song by Pitbull, according to media reports. news.

The family also organized a a big wedding for couples over 50 in need on July 2 as part of the festivities.

Last week, Justin Bieber held a pre-wedding concert for hundreds of guests that included performances by Bollywood stars Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh and Salman Khan.

Ambani once again made headlines in 2018, when Beyoncé held pre-wedding celebrations for her daughter. Former US Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry were among those who rubbed shoulders with Indian celebrities and Bollywood stars in the western Indian city of Udaipur.