Mumbai, July 13: Shah Rukh Khan touching the feet of Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, Rajinikanth shaking a leg with Anil Kapoor and Ranveer Singh to Kim and Khloe Kardashian making a stylish entry… These were some of the scenes from Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s extravagant nuptials which have been dubbed as the “wedding of the year” by many.
After months of grand pre-wedding celebrations in different installments, Anant — youngest Ambani scion — tied the knot with Radhika, daughter of pharma tycoons Viren and Shaila Merchant, on Friday night in Mumbai.
Social media is flooded with clips of film and media celebrities attending the grand celebration, which took place at the Jio World Drive, a convention centre built and owned by the Ambani family.
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On the red carpet, Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, dressed in traditional finery, were joined by their children Abhishek Bachchan and Shweta Bachchan Nanda along with her husband Nikhil Nanda and their kids Navya and Agastya Nanda. Abhishek’s wife Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and daughter Aaradhya Bachchan posed for the shutterbugs later.
It was a moment straight out of their 2001 hit family drama “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham..” when Shah Rukh greeted and touched the feet of his on-screen parents Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan.
On early Saturday morning, Amitabh Bachchan shared a blog post after returning from the “glorious wedding”.
“.. and the feel after a very long time of public exposure, the wealth of love and affection that I can possibly think of with so many old acquaintances .. they seemed to have changed in their physiognomy, but extremely sincere in their affection towards the association and the love of our times well spent together .. This is what life is all about .. the associations and love and care .. (sic)” he wrote.
Like the Bachchans, Shah Rukh also reached the venue wife Gauri Khan, and elder children Aryan Khan and Suhana Khan.
Then there was also Rajinikanth, who arrived with his wife Lata, daughter Soudarya, son-in-law Vishagan Vanangamudi and grandson Veer. The Tamil superstar, dressed in traditional Tamil wear, danced to ‘dhol’ beats with Ranveer and Anil Kapoor with the groom trying to match steps with the trio.
Hollywood actor and former wrestler John Cena couldn’t stop himself from grooving to the beats of the ‘dhol’. Much to the delight of Indian fans from his WWE days, Cena — powder blue kurta paired with a white bottom — also did his famous provocative gesture “You can’t see me” as he shook a leg with fellow attendees.
Also part of the celebrations were American media personalities Kim Kardashian and Khloe Kardashian, who opted for traditional Indian attire custom made by celebrity designer Manish Malhotra.
In a video doing social media rounds, the Kardashian sister duo could be seen being welcomed by Nita Ambani, the mother of the groom, into the wedding hall. In her Instagram Story, Kim said Anant-Radhika’s wedding will feature on “The Kardashians”, their popular reality series.
Actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas along with singer-husband Nick Jonas, Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, Ananya Panday, Shanaya Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, and Katrina Kaif were part of Anant’s ‘baaraat’ or wedding procession.
Akshay Kumar skipped the event amid reports of the actor being diagnosed with COVID-19.
One of the highlights of the function was Salman and Shah Rukh dancing and lip-syncing to their classic song “Bhangra Pa Le” from their 1995 film “Karan Arjun”. Madhuri was all grace when she moved to the rhythm of her popular song “Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai” from 1993’s “Khalnayak” and Priyanka was having a time of her life dancing to “Chikni Chameli” from her 2012 film “Agneepath”.
Rapper Rema brought the house down with his stage act on the chartbuster “Calm Down” with Salman, Ranveer, Anant and Ambani family patriarch Mukesh Ambani, as well as Shanaya Kapoor vibing in the audience. The Nigerian rapper reportedly charged around Rs 25 crore for his performance.
Vicky Kaushal rocked the stage as singer-rapper Honey Singh belted out smash hits like “Blue Hai Paani Paani”, “Love Dose”, and “Main Sharabi”. Ranveer also led the crowd to join him as he performed the hook step of “Tattad Tattad” from 2013’s “Ram-Leela”.
Janhvi Kapoor, Khushi Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan, Ibrahim Ali Khan, Ram Charan and Mahesh Babu were also part of the wedding party.
The three-day wedding Ambani extravaganza is the final stop in a string of lavish parties the family has hosted since March.
The pre-wedding festivities kickstarted in Gujarat’s Jamnagar which witnessed the performances by pop diva Rihanna and the who’s who of Bollywood.
In June, the celebrations continued with a luxury cruise party across Italy and South of France where guests were enthralled by the likes of the Backstreet Boys, Pitbull, David Guetta, Katy Perry and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.
Singer-songwriter Justin Bieber performed at the ‘sangeet’ ceremony last week in Mumbai.
Also part of the wedding celebrations were former Indian president Ram Nath Kovind, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The celebrations will continue with a small dinner for exclusive guests on Saturday and a grand reception on July 14. (PTI)
