Anant Ambani’s mega pre-wedding bash takes off

Jamnagar: Bollywood celebrities, cricketers, sports stars, heads of states and business tycoons from India and abroad, including Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, have started arriving at Gujarat’s Jamnagar city for a three-day-long lavish pre-wedding event of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s son Anant and his fiancée Radhika Merchant.

While Anant Ambani is the younger son of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) CMD Mukesh Ambani, Radhika Merchant is the younger daughter of Viren Merchant, CEO of Encore Healthcare. Anant Ambani serves as a director on the boards of RIL and Jio Platforms Ltd among some other group firms. The grand pre-wedding celebrations, which began on Friday, are being held at a residential township situated close to RIL’s petroleum refinery near Jamnagar city. Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant had got engaged in January 2023. While several top celebrities and business leaders have already arrived at Jamnagar, some are expected to be here in the coming days, sources aware of the matter said. Those who have already arrived for the high-profile event included Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, former US president Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, badminton champion Saina Nehwal, cricketers Rashid Khan and Suryakumar Yadav, former cricketer Zaheer Khan and Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Ranbir Kapoor, among others.

Popstar Rihanna has also landed at Jamnagar and she is expected to perform at the event, said the sources. Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who is already in Gujarat, is expected to reach Jamnagar by Friday evening. It was also learnt that world renowned illusionist David Blaine and top Indian artists such as Arijit Singh, Ajay-Atul and Diljit Dosanjh would enthral the audience during the three-day-long festivities. Prime Minister of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, King and Queen of Bhutan, former President of Bolivia Jorge Quiroga, ex-PM of Australia Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper and ex-Prime Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt are also expected to attend the grand function.

A Copious 3-Day Extravaganza

Day 1: The first day’s theme named as ‘An Evening In Everland’, which will be a lavish cocktail party. The guests will have to be dressed in splendid cocktail ensemble.

Day 2: This is the day, when the guests have to heed the ‘Call Of The Wild’. Titled ‘A Walk On The Wildside’, this day will include a trip to the Ambani’s animal rescue centre at Jamnagar. The dress code on day-2 is ‘jungle fever’. Anant is a passionate about animal rights. After they come back from the trip, the guests will gear up for the grand event of the evening ‘Mela Rouge’, which will be a melange of desi activities. The dress code for the event is Indian.

Day 3: The final day will be action-packed. In the morning, guests will get to interact with the rescued animals that dwell in the animal rehabilitation centre. They will get to meet 200 elephants, 300 big cats and 120 reptiles. The event is named, ‘Tusker Trails.’