The pre-wedding bash ahead of Isha Ambani and Anand Piramal’s marriage featured nearly all of Bollywood and a performance from Beyonce.
New Delhi: India’s richest person, industrialist Mukesh Ambani, was already in the record books for the world’s most expensive home — Antilia at Mumbai’s Altamount Road. But the pre-wedding bash for Ambani’s daughter Isha at Udaipur’s City Palace has caught the world’s attention for the sheer star power on display, including nearly all of Bollywood, former US First Lady and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, columnist and businesswoman Arianna Huffington, and singing superstar Beyonce.
Isha Ambani is set to tie the knot with Anand Piramal on 12 December, bringing together two of India’s biggest business conglomerates.
The fact that all these powerful celebrities turned up for the pre-wedding bash raised eyebrows both in India and abroad. Combined with the wedding, the whole celebration is reportedly set to cost the Ambanis about $100 million.
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Reactions in the US
Americans were taken aback when the news broke that Beyonce would be performing at the bash. The superstar, who reached the city Sunday, enthralled the guests with her performance as she sang Crazy In Love among other chartbusters.
No one knows the exact amount Beyonce was offered to perform at the event. According to some reports, the singer charges $2 million for a performance, but the rate was purportedly higher for the multi-billionaire Ambanis.
A BuzzFeed article compiled the sheer shock American Twitterati felt over the pre-wedding bash.
Marketing professional Frederick Joseph joked that if Beyonce performed at his wedding, people would have to buy tickets.
If Beyoncè performs at my wedding y’all are buying tickets to get in. https://t.co/vSgWvEVit8
— Frederick Joseph (@FredTJoseph) December 10, 2018
Chris Morran, former editor at consumer affairs website Consumerist, wondered who they would a hire for the actual wedding if they brought in Beyonce for a pre-wedding party.
You know your dad is rich when he can afford to hire Beyonce to sing at your PRE-wedding party. What do you do for the actual wedding — pay someone to resurrect John Lennon? https://t.co/lc1AbIFyjq
— chris morran (@themorrancave) December 10, 2018
Meghan Tonjes, a body-positive vlogger and musician, said she would want the kind of money that let one brag ‘Beyonce performed at my wedding’.
https://twitter.com/meghantonjes/status/1072201349696229376
Spencer Charnas, co-founder of the metalcore band Ice Nine Kills, tried to troll Beyonce by saying he’d pay her not to perform.
I wouldn’t pay $5 to have Beyoncé at my wedding but I’d pay a million to stop her from performing ?
— Spencer Charnas (@SpencerICE9K) December 10, 2018
Popular YouTuber Casey Neistat joked that he and his wife Candice Pool “were going to have” Beyonce perform at their wedding, but “decided” to make do with just a playlist.
we were going to have Beyoncé perform at our wedding but decided to just make a playlist Candice’s iphone instead ? https://t.co/7BgN8ZJRZb
— Casey Neistat (@Casey) December 10, 2018
Karen Civil, a social and digital media strategist, only reported the news, but the Twitterverse posted some hilarious replies to her tweet.
Over the weekend, Beyoncé performed at a private wedding in India. pic.twitter.com/3O3Areo1MQ
— Karen Civil (@KarenCivil) December 9, 2018
Aaron Barksdale, archival production assistant at VICE Media, was left “gagging”. He wondered how rich one would have to be for Beyonce to perform at their wedding.
can you imagine being rich enough to have #Beyonce perform at your wedding? I'm gagging https://t.co/n3kjwJ0h0B
— wildfox looking for a sasuke (@AaronABarksdale) December 10, 2018
Model and Instagram celebrity Cyn Santana wondered how much Beyonce was charging for the performance.
How much y’all think Beyoncé charge to perform at a wedding?? Lol
— Cyn Santana (@Cyn_Santana) December 9, 2018
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No one should grudge India’s richest family spending $ 100 million – the NYT mentioned $ 15 million, which one felt was an undercount – on a loved daughter’s wedding.