INDIANS ARE TALKING ABOUT BILLIONAIRE AMBANI’S WEDDING EXTRAVAGANZA, NOT ALL ADMIRINGLY

By Shakir Husain

NEW DELHI, July 10 (Bernama) -- As the son of India's richest man Mukesh Ambani gets married to the daughter of a tycoon in Mumbai this week, Indians are talking about the wedding extravaganza.

Though not all are speaking admiringly about it.

Ostentatious celebrations are planned, with foreign and local celebrities, top entertainers, prominent political figures, and of course, many tycoons adorning the guest list.

Many will be wearing costumes that would not look out of place on an Indian movie set.

The groom is 29-year-old Anant Ambani, the United State-educated youngest son of Mukesh and his wife Nita Ambani.

The bride is Radhika Merchant, 29, whose parents are pharmaceutical group Encore Healthcare's founders Viren and Shaila Merchant. They have known each other for many years.

India's super wealthy are rarely shy about flaunting  their wealth, and their marriage unions often get more attention than big corporate mergers and acquisitions.

Mukesh's daughter Isha got married to Anand Piramal, the son of industrialist Ajay Piramal, in 2018 in an event remembered for its display of wealth, glamour, political power, elaborate Hindu rituals and Bollywood-style celebrations as well as the reported expense of US$100 million.

Anant's wedding on Friday promises to be an affair that will be no less remarkable.

His pre-wedding celebration for three days in March in Jamnagar, Gujarat state, attracted prominent Indian and foreign figures, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Facebook owner Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, and pop star Rihanna.

The Jamnagar airfield, which local media reports said is primarily an Indian Air Force (IAF) facility, received a large number of private planes. It was reportedly given an "international" airport status for a few days to receive foreign guests.

Their second pre-wedding celebration in May involved 1,200 friends, relatives and other guests, on a four-day cruise trip in the Mediterranean, with performances on and off the vessel from French disc jockey David Guetta, The Backstreet Boys, US singer Katy Perry and other entertainers, according to media reports.

During this week's celebrations, Mumbai's traffic police will restrict public access to the roads leading to the Jio World Convention Centre between 1 pm and midnight from July 12 to 15.

The venue, located in the city's busy commercial district Bandra Kurla Complex, is owned by the Ambani conglomerate.

The police in a social media post on July 5 said the arrangement was "due to a public event", drawing sharp criticism on social media from Mumbai residents who questioned the restrictions to facilitate a private celebration.

One user on X sarcastically asked the government to announce a national marriage day to mark the occasion.

Many are directing their ire at the lavishness of the event, questioning how so much money can be spent on one wedding in a country where hundreds of millions survive on a free government ration of five kilograms of grain per month.

-- BERNAMA