Indian weddings are known to be opulent, extravagant and at times outrageously expensive with everything money can buy thrown in to celebrate the union of two human beings in a way perhaps nowhere else in the world is done.
However, the term ‘Big-Fat Indian wedding’ acquired a whole new meaning at the marriage of Isha Ambani, the daughter of industrialist and India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, which undoubtedly was the biggest and the fattest.
As if dance performances by pop star Beyoncé at a pre-wedding event wasn’t bewildering enough, the biggest of Bollywood stars lined up to served food to guests at the Ambani wedding.
Videos posted on social media showed Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Shahrukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai- some of Bollywood’s best and highest-paid stars, making a beeline to serve food to the guests, leaving many to wonder if it indeed was the depth of Mr Ambani’s pockets or something else was afoot.
Some simply went red with rage.
Though the Ambani wedding was a total jaw-dropping affair from top to bottom throughout the week - estimated to have cost a whopping $100 million. But nothing caused as much bewilderment as the top stars of the film industry serving dhokla.
However, it was Abhishek Bachchan, a Bollywood actor who along with the likes of Salman Khan, danced in the background as Mr Ambani’s son grooved on the stage, demystified the puzzle.
“A tradition,” he said, in which the family of the bride serves food to the family members of the groom.
The tradition Junior Bachchan referred to is called ‘Sajjan Goth’ in which the family of the bride serves food to the elders from the groom’s family in a traditional setting, offering them a special hospitality.
27-year-old Isha Ambani is the daughter of Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries whose net worth is pegged at $40 billion and counted among the 20 richest people in the world, tied the knot with Anand Piramal (33) whose family’s fortunes are pegged at $4 billion.
The week-long marriage celebration that took place at the Ambani’s 27-storey bespoke residence, Elinta, in the heart of Mumbai, was attended not just by the who’s who of the cinema, politics and sports in India but also the former US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton.
The extravagantly ostentatious wedding hasn’t been without its share of criticism.
