Everything to know about Anant Ambani-Radhika Merchant wedding: Global guest list, 100 private jets and a $320 million shaadi

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Who is Radhika Merchant?

Radhika Merchant in bespoke Robert Wun couture for pre-wedding celebrations. (Source: Instagram/Rhea Kapoor)

Daughter of Shaila and Viren Merchant, CEO of pharma major Encore Healthcare, Radhika Merchant graduated from New York University. Radhika is on the board of Encore Healthcare, alongside her sister Anjali. She is also a trained classical dancer.

Also Read | Sara Ali Khan jokes ‘Ambanis served us gold with roti’ as she shares details about Jamnagar celebrations: ‘There were diamonds everywhere’

Anant Ambani-Radhika Merchant pre-wedding festivities

 

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Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s wedding caps four months of pre-wedding festivities that started in the family’s hometown Jamnagar, Gujarat, with 1,200 guests, including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Ivanka Trump. The event had performances by Rihanna and Diljit Dosanjh, as well as India’s top actors performing with the Ambani family on stage.

Rihanna with Shah Rukh Khan at the pre-wedding festivity in Jamnagar, Gujarat.

Salman Khan, Ram Charan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan at Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s pre-wedding bash in Jamnagar. (PTI)

In June, the Ambanis took their guests on a luxury cruise, with stopovers in Rome, Portofino, Genoa and Cannes. The Backstreet Boys, singer Katy Perry and Andrea Bocelli performed during the event.

Katy Perry performs at the Cannes for the Ambanis. (Photo: Katy Perry Fan Page/X)

 

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WATCH: Katy Perry lights up Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s luxury cruise pre-wedding bash with her performance

Anant Ambani-Radhika Merchant wedding festivities

Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant will get married as per Hindu customs. Their wedding or ‘Shubh Vivah’ will take place on July 12. On July 13, guests will attend Shubh Aashirwad and the wedding reception or ‘Mangal Utsav’ is scheduled for July 14. The Mumbai Police has issued a traffic advisory that will be effective during the three-day wedding events. Traffic around Jio World Convention Centre in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) will be diverted. The police said on X, “Due to a public event at the Jio World Convention Centre in Bandra Kurla Complex on July 5th and from July 12th to 15th, 2024, the following traffic arrangements will be in place for the smooth flow of traffic.”

WATCH: Ambani’s Portofino pre-wedding festivities had vada pav, egg roll for guests

Anant Ambani-Radhika Merchant wedding guest list

Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s nuptials will see the who’s who from India and the world in attendance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu, Andhra Pradesh Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath and Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin are expected to attend.

Besides Bollywood A-listers — Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Katrina Kaif, Alia Bhatt, Shahid Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor, among many more, the Kardashian sisters — Kim and Khloe — will also grace the wedding. Actor John Cena, Despacito singer Luis Rodriguez, Calm Down fame Rema are also expected to attend the wedding.

WATCH: Mukesh Ambani-Nita Ambani turn Raj Kapoor and Nargis as they perform on stage; Anant Ambani-Radhika Merchant go retro

Former US Secretary of State John Kerry, former UK PMs Tony Blair and Boris Johnson, ex-Italian PM Matteo Renzi, former Canada Prime Minister Stephen Harper, ex-Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed, Tanzania President H.E. Samia Suluhu Hassan, ex-Austrian PM Sebastian Kurz, IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch, WTO D-G Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, and ex-Swedish PM Carl Bildt too are expected to attend the wedding.

Anant Ambani-Radhika Merchant wedding venue

At 18.5 acres, Mumbai’s Jio World Centre is about 12 times as large as a FIFA football field and 10.3 times the size of the Empire State Building in New York. It spans 1,108,812 square feet and features five modular halls, 25 meeting rooms, and a ballroom.

Also Read | The Ambani pre-wedding involved us all

Anant Ambani-Radhika Merchant wedding cost

The Ambani family has chartered three Falcon-2000 jets to transport guests for the wedding of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant. Rajan Mehra, CEO of Club One Air, told HT that he expects over 100 private planes to be used for the event.

As per a Daily Mail article, adding up the pre-wedding celebration costs (Rihanna reportedly charged $5 million for Jamnagar performance while Justin Bieber is said to have charged $10 million), and other logistics including cruise liner, private jets and security, the wedding is expected to cost over $320 million (around Rs 2500 crore).