NEW DELHI – When a member of one of India’s wealthiest families gets married, big-name guests and show-stopping pomp and circumstance are nothing unusual. But it is not every day that the invitees include royalty, business titans, Bollywood luminaries and Rihanna, for three days of a pre-wedding spectacular, months ahead of the actual ceremony.

The lavish festivities, which got under way on March 1 for Mr Anant Ambani, have seized public attention in India despite – or perhaps because of – how they underscore gaping inequality in a country that has enjoyed economic growth yet where millions still live in profound poverty.

Mr Ambani, 28, is the younger son of Mr Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, India’s biggest company by market capitalisation.

The senior Ambani is the world’s 10th-richest person, according to the Forbes billionaires list, worth over US$116 billion (S$156 billion).

The family welcomed the guests at a sprawling venue in the western Indian state of Gujarat, along with Mr Anant Ambani’s fiancee, Ms Radhika Merchant.

Ms Merchant, 29, comes from a family that owns healthcare businesses and is trained in Indian classical dance.

The couple started the festivities on Feb 28 with a community feast: hosting thousands of people from neighbouring villages in Jamnagar and serving them Gujarati delicacies.

But for the main event that started on the evening of March 1, more than 1,000 guests, including some of the world’s richest people, were in attendance.

Notable invitees include Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Mr Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Mr Bob Iger of Walt Disney; present and former prime ministers of Canada, Sweden and Qatar; the King and Queen of Bhutan; and Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit.

Photographs published by the Indian media also confirmed the arrival of former United States president Donald Trump’s eldest daughter, Ms Ivanka Trump.

Singer Rihanna, who gave birth to her second child in August, led the entertainment on March 1 in her first public performance since the Super Bowl in 2023. Broadcaster India Today reported that the Barbados-born musician and women’s beauty entrepreneur had been offered up to US$9 million to appear at the event.

US illusionist David Blaine is also expected to be part of the entertainment for guests.

The guest list is part of the pageantry. Guests are not just (or not even) friends, but attractions in their own right.

Apart from enjoying the spectacle, many will appreciate the opportunity to sidle up to India’s most influential business family at the bar.

Mr Iger’s presence, in particular, seems well timed: Mrs Nita Ambani, Mr Mukesh Ambani’s wife, is reportedly poised to become chair of the board of the company created by a merger of Reliance with Walt Disney’s Indian media assets.

There is precedent for extravagant Ambani nuptials.

At a ceremony for Mr Anant Ambani’s sister in 2018, two former US secretaries of state were in attendance – Mrs Hillary Clinton and Mr John Kerry. Both reportedly danced to bhangra, a type of pop music from India’s Punjab region.

That wedding, which reportedly cost US$100 million and saw US pop megastar Beyonce perform, was reportedly the most expensive wedding in India to date.

This time, the Ambani family has commissioned female artisans from the region to weave handmade scarves as gifts to the guests and a tribute to Indian heritage.

Dozens of speciality chefs will prepare dishes, the estimated number of which ranges from 500 to 2,500, according to some media accounts.

Among the luxurious touches planned are chartered flights for the guests and people available to iron their clothes or help apply their make-up.

More than 1,000 guests have arrived at the Jamnagar airport from around the world, according to local media reports.

The airport was redesignated by the government to accept foreign arrivals for 10 days, with officials setting up Customs and immigration booths to facilitate the arrival of guests, The Hindu newspaper reported.

The average annual salary in India is about US$2,750, but lavish feasts are a regular part of Indian weddings, even for people of modest means.

The Ambanis are splashing out like any other family – although on an entirely different scale.

A video invitation that has gone viral lays out the agenda.

The theme for day one, March 1, was “An Evening in Everland” and the dress code was “elegant cocktail”. Day two, March 2, was themed “Walk on the Wild Side” and saw guests, who were asked to wear animal-print clothing, visit an animal rescue centre housing exotic animals. The facility is a pet project of Mr Anant Ambani.

Guests were then encouraged to “put on your dancing shoes” for an evening of dance and music.

On the final day, guests will embark on “Tusker trails” where they will tour an animal rescue, rehabilitation and conservation project that is also a favourite charitable undertaking of the groom.

That evening, dressed in traditional Indian clothes, guests will witness Hastakshar, the signing ceremony between the couple, at a temple.

The actual wedding is not until July. It is likely to be fancy, too. NYTIMES, AFP