Boris Johnson, Kim Kardashian and Hilary Clinton: Celebrity guest list for India’s biggest wedding

Anant Ambani, son of Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, is getting married to Radhika Merchant after months of festivities

Anant Ambani, the son of Asia’s richest man, is marrying his longtime girlfriend Radhika Merchant on Friday, bringing to a close wedding festivities that started several months ago.

The wedding ceremony will be attended by some 1,200 people, with the guest list including the who’s who of Bollywood, Silicon Valley tycoons, and even former world leaders.

Boris Johnson, Tony Blair, Hilary Clinton, Kim and Khloe Kardashian, and Mike Tyson are among those on the guest list, Bloomberg reported.

Samsung Electronics chief Jay Lee, Saudi Aramco’s Amin Nasser, Lockheed Martin’s Jim Taiclet, and FIFA boss Gianni Infantino are also expected, as is Gautam Adani, Asia’s second-richest man.

The marathon Indian wedding concludes today (AFP via Getty)

Anant Ambani, 29, is the youngest son of Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of the Fortune 500 company Reliance Industries who has an estimated net worth of $113bn (£89.53bn), according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.

Reliance has interests in petroleum refining and marketing, chemicals, organised retail, telecommunications and digital streaming services.

Mukesh Ambani has three children with wife Nita, twins Isha and Akash and Anant. They all handle different enterprises of their father’s business.

Radhika Merchant, 29, is the daughter of pharmaceutical tycoon Viren Merchant. She serves on the board of her father’s company,  Encore Healthcare.

Mukesh Ambani with his daughter Isha Ambani and her children at a pre-wedding ceremony for Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant (AP)

The wedding festivities, which began about four months ago, culminate in a ceremony so lavish it has taken both national and international media by storm.

It all started in March with a three-day pre-wedding celebration in Mukesh Ambani’s hometown Jamnagar, in the western Indian state of Gujarat. Guests included Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Ivanka Trump, the king and queen of Bhutan, and several world leaders.

A special glass palace was built for the event, there was a light show with 5,500 drones and performances by Rihanna, Diljit Dosanjh and Akon.

Nita Ambani with Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant during a pre-wedding ceremony at their residence Antilia in Mumbai, India (AP)

A second pre-wedding celebration in May saw the Ambanis take some 800 guests on a four-day Mediterranean cruise from Italy to France and back, and hire American band Backstreet Boys, singer Katy Perry and opera star Andrea Bocelli for entertainment.

While the lavish festivities have been closely followed by the media, criticism for the inconvenience caused by the parties has trailed the Ambanis at every step.

There was outrage when the Indian government temporarily upgraded the Jamnagar airport to accommodate private jets for the Ambani family’s guests and allowed the sensitive Indian Air Force facility to be used for the wedding party and run at public expense.

Residents, tourists and local businesses in Portofino and Genoa in Italy were left fuming as the cities were shut down for the cruise party and people living near the bay were kept awake by loud music.

The concluding wedding festivities in Mumbai have caused chaos in India’s financial capital. Police have imposed traffic restrictions from 12 July to 15 July around the wedding venue, located right in Mumbai’s central business district.

People walk past the Antilia mansion of Mukesh Ambani in Mumbai as it’s lit up ahead of his son Anant Ambani’s wedding (AP)

The wedding venue, the Jio World Convention Centre owned by Ambani’s Reliance, will be open only for cars heading there. This has upset residents in a city notorious for its congested traffic, worsened by the heavy rain the city is receiving.

Several offices at the Bandra Kurla Complex, a commercial hub, have instructed employees to work remotely until July 15, the financial newspaper Mint reported. The complex houses India’s top stock exchange, markets regulator, and numerous international banks.

The latest wedding celebration kicked off last weekend, with Justin Beiber performing for the couple’s friends and family at the traditional sangeet ceremony.

Bieber performed his 2015 hit song “Love Yourself” as well as his 2017 collaboration with DJ Khaled “I’m The One” at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Mumbai. He is rumoured to have been paid $10m for the private gig.

Justin Bieber with Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant (Justin Bieber/Instagram)

The wedding ceremony on Friday will be held according to traditional Hindu customs and the reception will be over two days.

Rajan Mehra, CEO of air charter company Club One Air, said the Ambanis have hired three of his company’s Falcon 2000 jets to ferry guests and expects more than 100 private planes to be used for the event, Reuters reported.

“The guests are coming from all over and each aircraft will make multiple trips across the country,” he said.

Manish Malhotra, one of India’s top designers, has been hired as the wedding designer. Media reports said he has been working with the groom’s mother Nita Ambani to execute the vision the family has for the wedding.

“Each detail, from the decor and cuisine to the attire and ambiance; each event, from the vibrant sangeet to the ceremonial wedding day and the grand reception, is designed to immerse guests in an atmosphere of joy, love and celebration,” he told CNN.