After seven months of extravagant pre-wedding celebrations, Anant Ambani, the son of India’s richest man, married pharmaceutical heiress Radhika Merchant in a grand ceremony on Friday.
The star-studded event in Mumbai saw attendees like Kim and Khloé Kardashian, Nick Jonas, Priyanka Chopra, and former British prime minister Tony Blair, along with numerous luminaries from the Indian entertainment, sports, business, and political arenas, including Bollywood stars like Rajinikanth and Sanjay Dutt, former president Ram Nath Kovind, and members of India’s cricket team.
The Ambani family, owners of India’s largest private corporation, Reliance Industries, spared no expense for the wedding. The company, founded by Anant’s grandfather and now led by his father Mukesh, who is worth over $122 billion according to Forbes, orchestrated the lavish affair.
In a rain-soaked Mumbai, police closed roads around the Ambanis’ 16,000-capacity Jio World Convention Center for the red-carpet-style event. Guests donned custom sarees, lehengas, and kurtas, possibly setting upcoming trends in Indian wedding fashion. International guests also embraced traditional attire, sporting designs by major Indian fashion designers. John Cena appeared in an embroidered sky blue sherwani, while Nick Jonas wore a baby pink bouclé-style outfit with matching trousers alongside his wife, Priyanka Chopra, who wore a sunshine yellow sari.
Fashion notables were also present. Stylist Law Roach wore a mauve velvet jacket and purple tunic, and designer Prabal Gurung donned a rose-colored sherwani and aviator sunglasses. Kim and Khloé Kardashian, who did not walk the red carpet, were seen on social media in gold and red saris. Kim hinted on Instagram that their film crew was present for an episode of “The Kardashians.”
Inside the venue, which was styled to resemble the holy city of Varanasi, footage shared on social media showed celebrities like Chopra and Cena dancing. Anant arrived on the red carpet in a golden sherwani paired with sneakers, which he later changed for the ceremony. Radhika dazzled in a hand-embroidered outfit by Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla, featuring a 16-foot-long veil and a long traditional skirt with a detachable train.
Nita Ambani, Anant’s mother, shared on social media that she envisioned the event as a tribute to India’s culture and heritage. The custom peach silk ghagra she wore took over 40 days to make, designed by couture house Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla.
Renowned fashion designer Manish Malhotra served as the wedding’s creative director, crafting bespoke outfits for the Ambani family throughout the celebrations. He stated that every detail of the event aimed to immerse guests in an atmosphere of joy and love.
In the days leading up to the wedding, the couple participated in several traditional pre-wedding rituals. Singer Justin Bieber performed at their “sangeet,” a night of music and dance, and they also attended a private “haldi” ceremony where family and friends bless the couple with a turmeric paste.
Anant Ambani, a Brown University graduate and the youngest of Mukesh Ambani’s children, serves as a director at a Reliance energy business. Radhika Merchant, also 29, is the daughter of Viren and Shaila Merchant, founders of the pharmaceutical company Encore Healthcare.
While the exact cost of the wedding is unknown, industry estimates place it in the hundreds of millions of dollars, with high-profile musical performances commanding significant sums.
Festivities will continue through the weekend at the Ambani family’s 27-story residence, Antilia, featuring a “Shubh Ashirwad” event on Saturday and a Sunday reception with an “Indian chic” dress code.
The wedding festivities mark the culmination of months of events, including a celebrity-filled engagement party in January, a communal dinner for over 50,000 villagers, a pre-wedding bash attended by the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, and a Mediterranean cruise featuring concerts by the Backstreet Boys and Pitbull.
Anant’s older sister, Isha, also held a grand wedding in 2018, attended by celebrities, politicians, and business magnates, and featuring a private concert by Beyoncé during her pre-wedding celebrations.