Beyonce, Hillary at India’s big wedding

Celebrities flock to Indian business scions’ lavish wedding

NEW DELHI, Dec 12, (Agencies): In a season of big Indian weddings, the Wednesday marriage of the scions of two billionaire families might be the biggest of them all.

The bride, Isha Ambani, is the Ivy League-educated daughter of industrialist Mukesh Ambani, thought to be India’s richest man. Forbes estimates his net worth at over $43 billion.

The groom, Anand Piramal, is the relative pauper. His father, industrialist Ajay Piramal, is thought to be worth $10 billion.

The wedding is being held in Mumbai on Wednesday but festivities began weeks ago, starting in September with an engagement party at a lakeside Italian palace. Over the weekend, thousands attended pre-wedding parties at a 16th century palace in the Indian desert city of Udaipur, where videos shot by partiers showed Hillary Clinton dancing with Shah Rukh Khan, one of India’s biggest movie stars, as former Secretary of State John Kerry danced just a few feet away.

A highlight was a performance by Beyonce, who sang “Crazy In Love”, among other hits, with a band backing her up and a series of costume changes that included at least one India-inspired outfit.

“Beyonce Lights Up Udaipur”, the Times of India shouted in a Tuesday headline.

Indian weddings are famously elaborate, driving many families into debt with expectations that they invite hundreds or thousands of people, and arranging professional song-and-dance shows.

Among India’s rich, weddings are displays of almost unimaginable wealth, with guests flown in on chartered jets from around the world and celebrities paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for brief appearances. In

lush parks – is practically a central character in the story of a family grappling with love and loss. 2004, a daughter of Indian steel baron Lakshmi Mittal held her engagement party at Versailles.

The Indian media noted that the actual Ambani wedding, in Mumbai, was expected to be a relatively small affair, with just 600 or so people in attendance. More parties will follow the marriage ceremony.

Antilla, the Ambanis’ 27-story Mumbai home, has been strung with lights for the wedding, looking like a small skyscraper at night. The family is said to have reserved hundreds of hotel rooms for their guests.

Dozens of photographers were gathered outside the home’s entrance Wednesday afternoon, waiting for guests and the groom who, in traditional Indian fashion, was expected to arrive on a horse.

Stretches

The Ambani fortune stretches across a range of industries, from petroleum to chemicals to mobile phones. They control the conglomerate Reliance Industries. The Piramal family businesses include pharmaceuticals and real estate.

The competitiveness of India’s wintertime wedding season is growing more extreme, according to Archana Dalmia, a social activist in New Delhi.

“A farmer might commit suicide because he can’t save enough money to get his daughter married,” she said.

The extravagant wedding of Indian actress Priyanka Chopra and American singer Nick Jonas earlier this month – attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – was straight out of a Bollywood film.

So-called dowry deaths – brides killed when their families fail to meet in-laws’ dowry demands – constitute a substantial share of all female homicides in India, a 2018 United Nations

Perhaps that’s the reason that “Roma” has been passionately embraced by Mexican audiences even as the country’s

In this Dec 9 handout photo released by Reliance Industries Limited, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Nita Ambani (right), visit a curated showcase of traditional Indian crafts and art forms on display ahead of the wedding of

Isha Ambani (left), in Udaipur, India. (AP)

Office on Drugs and Crime report found.

While opulence has always been a feature of Indian weddings, families used to hand down bridal saris as heirlooms. No more, Dalmia said.

“This generation is very different. Priyanka Chopra will never be able to wear it again and she won’t be able to pass it down.”

Topping anything in hit film “Crazy Rich Asians”, the only daughter of India’s richest man ties the knot Wednesday after days of lavish celebrations that included a Beyonce concert in a lakeside palace.

Isha Ambani, whose father is tycoon Mukesh Ambani, was set to wed Anand Piramal, son of Indian billionaire industrialist Ajay Piramal, in the Ambanis’ 27-storey home in Mumbai.

Days of pre-wedding festivities at a sprawling palace in Udaipur in the desert state of Rajasthan included a concert by Beyonce, purportedly the bride’s favourite singer.

Attendees included Hillary Clinton, former US Secretary of State John Kerry and dozens of Bollywood stars including Salman Khan and Aamir Khan as well as cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar.

Joining them was a who’s-who of India’s super-rich elite, arriving on dozens of specially chartered flights into Udaipur’s normally sleepy airport and whisked away in expensive cars.

Actress Priyanka Chopra and American singer Nick Jonas, who themselves became husband and wife earlier this month, were also guests at Udaipur’s City Palace on the banks of Lake Pichola.

Wednesday evening’s actual wedding was set to be a more private affair with around 600 close friends and family, and some politicians, expected to be on the guest list.

two largest theater chains, Cinepolis and Cinemex, refuse to screen the movie. The companies object to the fact that the movie is premiering on Netflix within weeks of its theatrical debut – a stance being echoed by major US exhibitors such as AMC and Regal. (RTRS)

LOS ANGELES:

The National Film Registry is turning 30 and will bring in a new crop of films ranging from dinosaurs’ return from extinction, a cowboys-in-love drama and stories showcasing Native Americans. The Library of Congress announced Wednesday that the films “Jurassic Park”, “Brokeback Mountain” and “My Fair Lady” are among the 25 movies tapped for preservation this year.

“These cinematic treasures must be protected because they document our history, culture, hopes and dreams,” Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress, said in a statement.

The national library chose a few more memorable titles such as “The Shining”, “Eve’s Bayou”, “Hud” and “Broadcast News”. Others on the list include 1898 film “Something Good – Negro Kiss” and “Smoke Signals” from 1998, along with animated films “Hair Piece: A Film for Nappy-Headed People” (1984) and “Cinderella” (1950). (AP)