Image Sourced: @radhikamerchant_
Unless you’re on a digital detox, your social media must have been flooded with footage of celebrities, politicians, and businesspersons descending upon Mumbai to attend Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s wedding — that many in India are deeming as the biggest cultural moment of the year.
The three-day event that will kickstart in Mumbai on 12 July with the Shubh Vivah (the wedding ceremony), followed by the Shubh Aashirwad (blessings for the newly-weds) on 13 July and round off with the Mangal Utsav (grand reception) on 14 July, will witness a star-studded guest list. The nexus of popular Bollywood actors and directors has been a permanent fixture since the Jamnagar festivities, but the Mumbai guest list will also include international personalities like Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, Mike Tyson, John Cena, David Beckham, Nick Jonas and Adele, LiveMint reports. A host of politicians and sports persons have also been invited to grace the ceremony.
Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest man and his wife Nita Ambani, have left no stone unturned in the celebration of the upcoming nuptials of their youngest son. This includes a three-day pre-wedding bash in Jamnagar in March, where Rihanna, Akon, Diljit Dosanjh and others delivered electrifying performances, and the world’s top billionaires like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg were in attendance; and a luxury cruise for VIP guests from Italy to France in June, where Katy Perry and the Backstreet Boys were called upon to put on a memorable show.
Then there are the ridiculously expensive gifts and services the Ambanis lavished upon their guests — travel via charter flights, chauffeur-driven luxury cars, Louis Vuitton bags, gold chains, designer footwear… and the gilded list goes on. For the sangeet, which took place on 5 July, pop icon Justin Bieber was flown down to headline the night, which also witnessed power-packed performances by rappers Badshah and Karan Aujila.
With all of the many, many pre-wedding events — eleven up until the last count — exorbitant fees charged by some of the world’s biggest artists and the gifts and services offered to all guests, the Ambani family must have raked up a staggering bill, making this one of the most expensive weddings of all time. Here’s an estimate of how much Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s wedding festivities have probably cost.
According to LiveMint, The Economic Times and Outlook Business, the Ambanis are estimated to have spent about Rs 5,000 crore ($600 million) on Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s wedding celebrations. This is significantly higher than Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles’s Royal Wedding at Rs 1,361 crore ($48 million) and Sheikha Hind Bint bin Maktoum and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Rs 1,144 crore ($38 million), which, according to the South China Morning Post, were up until now two of the most expensive weddings in the world.
This included Rs 74 crore paid to Rihanna for her performance at the Jamnagar pre-wedding bash, and Justin Bieber’s Rs 83 crore fee to hype up the sangeet night. On a more macro scale, the Daily Mail reports that the Ambanis reportedly spent approximately Rs 2500 crore on the pre-wedding festivities, booking out the luxurious cruise liner Celebrity Ascent, private jets, security and more.
The original article can be found on GQ India.
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