"Spectacular, Vulgar, Star-Studded": How Foreign Media Covered Ambani Wedding (image@RIL_Updates)
Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant tied knots in one of the most lavish wedding took place on July 12th. The wedding culminated the months long pre-wedding bashes. From the Roka ceremony of the couple in 2022, the Ambanis and Merchants have been on festive mode. The exorbitant wedding has turned heads of millions across the globe.
Here is how the foreign media reported Ambani wedding:
Washington Posts’ headline read, “Asia’s richest man is hosting a ‘spectacular,’ ‘vulgar,’ star-studded wedding”. The article published on its website, noted how the extensive guest list attracted more attention that the couple themselves – “with pop stars, politicians, tech tycoons and Bollywood stars setting social media abuzz with their attendance”.
Al Jazeera underscored the criticism garnered by the over-the-top festivities. Its news portal’s headline read, “Star-studded Ambani wedding highlights India’s rich vs poor divide”. The outlet also spoke about the public ire at traffic restrictions which were put in place in Mumbai for the wedding.
In the opinion piece of The Guardian, it was said that the wedding has “surpassed even the wildest of imaginations in terms of opulence, ostentatious displays of wealth and stamina”.
British tabloid, The Sun, called it “the world’s most expensive wedding” in an article filled with statistics. It said, the Ambani family booked 100 private jets to fly international guests to India, decorated the venue with 20 million flowers, served over 37,500 meal options created by an army of 500 chefs and spent between ₹6 to 7 lakh on each invite.
“But in India, a country where the richest one per cent own more than 40 per cent of the country’s total wealth, Anant and Radhika’s wedding will have been a hard pill to swallow”.
The Ambani’s do went overboard with the celebrations. The Engagement party of the two in 2023 was also huge. The pre-wedding bashes started in February this year. It started off with a Lagan Lakhvanu ceremony. The family hosted a lavish three-day long celebration at their Jamnagar estate.
Read also: With The Projected Rs 5,000 Crore Cost, Is Anant Ambani-Radhika Merchant Wedding The Costliest?
The function was attended by several national and international celebrities. The guest lists spanned from Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg to a galaxy of B-Town biggies, athletes, businessmen, and diplomats. The guests were treated with a private concert by Rihanna and Diljith Dosanjh.
The Ambanis also hosted a luxury cruise for hundreds of guests in late May. From Shah Rukh Khan to Ananya Pandey, many Bollywood stars were part of the cruise celebration, which stop across the Mediterranean. The guests were enthralled with a private concert by Shakira, Backstreet Boys, Katy Perry, and David Guetta. Days leading to July 12th were also highly eventful with all the rituals and celebrations.
