9 Highlights

• The opulent wedding of Radhika Merchant and Anant Ambani – the son of Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani – has sparked a mix of anger and admiration in India.
• The three-day ceremony kicked off in Mumbai on Friday July 12, but a host of traditional Hindu celebrations had begun in December 2023 when the couple got engaged.
• • Photos of the Ambani wedding, full of luxury destinations, designer outfits, expensive jewelry and celebrity glamor, flooded social media.
  • According to local media, the guest list included politicians Tony Blair, Boris Johnson and John Kerry as well as Kim and Khloé Kardashian, Lana Del Rey, Drake and David Beckham, among others.
  • “This is the final and the most auspicious ceremony and the last wedding in our family,” The Times of India quoted Mukesh Ambani, whose family didn’t say how much they spent on the festivities that have been going on for months.
  • In 2018, the family hosted the most expensive Indian wedding to date for Ambani Snr’s daughter, Isha, at a reported cost of almost $100 million.
  • The latest Ambani wedding has caused discomfort for those who find the display of wealth jarring in a country with soaring income inequality under the rise of Indian billionaires, Time reported Friday.
  • One social media commenter said that the wedding invitation itself, comprising expensive gifts, “would feed a family of four with basic food (wheat, rice, pulses) for at least 2-3 months.”
  • Others have defended the Ambanis, saying they have the freedom to spend their money as they please.