U.S. singer Beyonce will perform at the wedding of the daughter of India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, along with Bollywood stars, and guests will be flown in on 100 chartered flights in lavish marriage celebrations.
Isha Ambani, 27, will marry Anand Piramal, 33, in the financial capital of Mumbai on Tuesday, but the festivities begin this weekend in the desert city of Udaipur, with three days of song, dance and pre-wedding rituals.
The guest list consists of not just who’s who of the Indian celebrity list but the world as well including former US Presidential candidate, First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Hillary arrived in Udaipur on Dec 8.
Earlier, Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, newlyweds Priyanka Chopra - Nick Jonas, Salman Khan, Karan Johar and a few others left for Udaipur on Saturday morning to attend the pre-wedding festivities of Mukesh and Nita Ambani's daughter Isha, who is getting married to industrialist Anand Piramal.
The Ambanis and the Piramals are hosting the pre-wedding festivities, which include the sangeet and mehendi ceremonies, of Isha and Anand in Udaipur over the weekend (December 8 and 9). The wedding is said to be an extremely private affair, which will take place in Mumbai on December 12.
Wedding guests have access to an app mapping out the activities, which include a private concert by Beyonce.
More than 100 chartered flights are landing in Udaipur's sleepy airport, a source on the spot, who declined to be identified, told Reuters.
Bollywood stars, including Priyanka Chopra, who got married last week, will also attend.
"The event will have many visitors from abroad, so customs and immigration counters have been set up at the airport and will remain active for the next five days," the airport source said.
The source declined to say how much Beyonce was being paid for the concert and media have not reported a figure.
The wedding will bring together two of India's most influential families.
Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries, has a net worth of $47 billion, Forbes magazine says. The Piramals have interests in pharmaceuticals and real estate, and according to a report in the news magazine India Today, have given the couple a 50,000-sq-foot (4,645-sq-m) sea-facing home in Mumbai.
Many in India, where millions live in dire poverty, have closely followed the preparations, including the couple's engagement at the luxury Villa D'Este hotel on Italy's Lake Como, attended by more than 600 guests, and featuring a private performance by singer John Legend.
Newspapers and websites have been full of details about the ceremonies, the designer jewellery and clothes, with some of India's top designers dressing the wedding party.
The wedding invitation includes necklaces and precious stones stacked in a two-tier floral box, at a cost of 300,000 rupees each ($4,236), India Today said.
The wedding is the latest in a series of high-profile marriages that began last year, when cricket captain Virat Kohli tied the knot with Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma.
Just last week, actress Priyanka Chopra and U.S. singer Nick Jonas had a two-day wedding at one of India’s most ostentatious royal palaces.
With inputs from Reuters
