In March, Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, threw a three-day bridal shower for his son, attended by 1,200 guests including former world leaders, tech moguls and Bollywood megastars, and a performance by popular singer Rihanna.
This was just the beginning of their lavish months-long pre-wedding celebrations that made headlines and sparked a social media frenzy.
In May, the family took their guests on a three-day pre-wedding cruise from Italy to France that included a DJ set from David Guetta, Katy Perry performing her hit “Firework” and a performance by Pitbull to cap it all off, according to reports.
Finally, the wedding is set for next week, with Anant Ambani, 29, marrying his long-time girlfriend Radhika Merchant in what many have dubbed the wedding of the year.
Here’s what we know:
Who are the Ambanis?
The groom’s father is Mukesh Ambani, 66, currently the world’s 9th richest man with a net worth of $116 billion, according to Forbes. He is also the richest person in Asia.
His company Reliance Industries is a massive conglomerate, with annual revenues of more than $100 billion, with interests ranging from petrochemicals to oil and gas, telecommunications and retail.
The Ambani family owns, among other assets, a 27-storey private apartment building named Antila worth $1 billion in Mumbai.
It has three helipads, a 160-car garage, a private cinema, a swimming pool and a fitness center.
Ambani’s critics say his business thrived mainly on his political connections during Congress governments in the 1970s and 1980s and then under Prime Minister Narendra Modi after 2014.
It is said that “crony capitalism” in India has helped some companies, like Ambani’s, to flourish.
The family patriarch began passing the torch to his two sons and daughter.
The eldest son, Akash Ambani, is now chairman of Reliance Jio, their telecoms company; his daughter, Isha, oversees retail, while the groom Anant, the youngest, has been inducted into the new energy company.
Who are the bride and groom?
Anant holds a bachelor’s degree from Brown University, according to Reliance Industries’ website, and oversees the conglomerate’s renewable and green energy expansion.
He also runs a 3,000-acre animal rescue center called Vantara in Jamnagar, Gujarat state, the family’s hometown, where guests spend days partying at the extravagant pre-wedding bash in March.
The bride, Radhika Merchant, 29, is the daughter of pharmaceutical tycoon Viren Merchant and is the marketing director of his company, Encore Healthcare, according to Vogue.
She told the magazine that the two were introduced through mutual friends in 2017.
“That first meeting sparked something special between us, and it wasn’t long before we started dating,” she said.
When is the wedding and what is expected?
The main wedding ceremony is scheduled for July 12, followed by a grand reception on July 14, according to local media.
The celebrations are expected to take place between Ambani’s Jio World convention centre in Mumbai city and their family home.
The dates were said to have been chosen based on the couple’s birth charts, as is usually the case in Hindu custom, and were considered auspicious.
In accordance with tradition, the wedding will be preceded by several days of traditional wedding events and rituals.
Indian social media was abuzz on Friday with videos of the couple’s sangeet, a ceremony in which the bride and groom’s families perform dances for guests.
The event also featured performances by Bollywood stars like Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh and Salman Khan as well as Justin Bieber, who flew to Mumbai for the event, according to local media reports.
The family also held a mass wedding for more than 50 underprivileged couples last week as part of the pre-wedding celebrations.
Extravagant parties are the Ambanis’ specialty and next week’s events are expected to attract more celebrities, billionaires and world leaders.
In March, the pre-wedding party featured Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, former leaders of Canada and Qatar, and Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone.
In addition to Rihanna, Akon and Diljit Dosanjh, a Punjabi singer who rose to international fame when he performed at Coachella, also took to the stage.
In 2018, when his daughter got married, Ambani made headlines for the grand celebrations, with pop sensation Beyoncé performing at the pre-wedding festivities.
At the time, former US secretaries of state Hillary Clinton and John Kerry were among those rubbing shoulders with Indian celebrities and Bollywood stars in the western Indian city of Udaipur.