What exactly happens when the richest Indian in Britain plans a wedding for his daughter? Well, it will be nothing short of a gala affair that would break every record of wedding extravagance for sure. That was precisely the case with Vanisha Mittal’s wedding in 2004 where her father Lakshmi Mittal apparently spent (hold your place tight!) around Rs. 240 crores! (that is approximately Rs. 304 crores today, adjusting inflation). That’s the amount on the bill sire, and there is no typo error in that. But this should not come as a surprise exactly since steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal is one of the richest persons in the world. But sometimes, even the most expensive and grandest weddings can go for a toss. Wonder why? Read on…
Who Is Vanisha Mittal?
Vanisha Mittal was born in the year 1980 to Lakshmi Mittal, CEO of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel-making company. She was born in London, where her family resides, and had all her education there. Coming from a business family, she studied business and after her education she was inducted into the board of directors at her father’s company LNM Holdings. She continues to hold the position even till today, and is now said to be actively involved in running her father’s business.
The Elaborate Wedding Preparation
It was a wedding that would make every grandiose Indian wedding look pale in contrast. It was an elaborate wedding extravaganza held in Paris. Although the wedding was held in 2004, the preparations started in 2003 itself. It is said that Lakshmi Mittal first got to work on acquiring the necessary permission to organise an engagement ceremony at Palace of Versailles from mid-2003 onwards. The Palace of Versailles was once the house of aristocratic French families, and it was chosen as the venue for Vanisha’s engagement with Amit Bhatia, who is an Indian investment banker and businessman, based out of London. He owns a construction company as well. Guess the compatibility in their businesses ensued a know-how between the Bhatia and Mittal family. It is said that Vanisha and Amit courted each other for a while before tying the knot.
Palace of Versailles
Senior Mittal had no intentions of sparing any expense, and it all began with invitations. The guests were sent a 20-page long wedding invitation in a silver box, which also included their flight tickets to Paris, and their lodging details at the avant-garde InterContinental Paris – Le Grand. The 20-page invitation had all the details about the various events, which included the engagement. It also featured some opulent poems written by members of the Mittal family.
Coming to the wedding attire, designers Tarun Tahiliani, Suneet Varma and the Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla pair were roped-in to design the outfits of the bride, bridegroom and all the family members. Since no Indian wedding is complete without the wedding thumkas, ace Bollywood choreographer Farah Khan was signed-up to coach the family members. Even Bollywood’s legendary writer Javed Akhtar’s services were engaged in order to script an hour long play, which Vanisha’s parents would enact for the guests during the course of the wedding festivities.
Lakshmi Mittal wanted to ensure that there were ample vegetarian delicacies for the 1500-2000 guests that would attend the wedding, so he specially flew in Munna Maharaj, Kolkata’s leading caterer-turned-restaurateur. Along with that, several Indian craftsmen were flown in months before the wedding to make the wedding mandap as resplendent as possible.
Splendid Engagement Ceremony
The sangeet ceremony preceded the engagement ceremony, and was held at the 500-year-old Tuileries Garden in Paris. It was here that Lakshmi Mittal, along with his wife Usha, enacted the play written by Javed Akhtar. The play also had a music score by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, and was completely choreographed by Farah Khan.
After the sangeet ceremony came the engagement event, which was held at Palace of Versailles that featured a French opera along with Moulin Rouge-style can-can dancing. The bride and bridegroom were dressed up in semi-western style. Amit wore a stylish sherwani while Vanisha was decked up in an off white gown. The engagement ceremony was followed by a sumptuous vegetarian dinner at the Battle Gallery located within the Palace of Versailles after which guests were given a guided tour of the place.
Mehndi Ceremony And The Stately Wedding
The venue for the mehndi ceremony was Le Bristol, a premium hotel in Paris, and the ceremony was held at the roof-top garden of the hotel. Leading mehndi artists from India were flown-in to Paris especially for this event. The wedding was held at opulent Vaux-le-Vicomte, an ornate French château located 55 kms away from Paris. A mandap was made on the pond located within the sprawling garden of the manor house. There was complete attention to every detail; even the flowers were arranged by a team of Dutch florists.
It was a Hindu wedding, complete with all the traditional rituals. Lakshmi Mittal ensured that there was no media coverage whatsoever and also restricted photography during any of the events. At the same time, he ensured that guests could communicate properly with each other, and therefore it is said he provided each guest a mobile phone (that is 1500 to 2000 mobile phones!).
Vaux le Vicomte, the venue of the wedding
The night of the wedding was followed by a lavish cocktail party, which is said to have been held at Le Bristol Hotel in Paris. It was a starry affair with performances by Kylie Minogue, Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji and Saif Ali Khan. Shah Rukh Khan performed a light-hearted spoof on the Mittal family, which the audience enjoyed. Apparently, Kylie Minogue and Shah Rukh Khan were paid 2,00,000 UK Pounds and 3,00,000 UK Pounds, respectively for their performances. It is said even Aishwarya Rai made a brief appearance with an enthralling performance.
The festivities were wrapped up with a stellar firework display at night above the Eiffel tower. There was a lot of buzz that for that one night, Lakshmi Mittal most probably leased the Eiffel tower and the surrounding grounds of the monument, which were even cleared for the dazzling firework display. Out of the 240 crores spent on the wedding, it was reported that almost 67 crores were spent on diamonds alone.
The Divorce News That Shocked Everyone
Amit and Vanisha had three children after their marriage, and Amit went on to develop strong business ties with his father-in-law. But after nearly a decade of marriage, cracks started appearing in their married life. Not much is known about the details as both the families chose not to discuss the same in public, citing it to be a personal matter. It is said that the main cause of discord between the couple was Amit’s inability to dedicate ample time to his wife and children.
Amit has been successful in his work and is considered one of the most successful investment banker-businessman in the world. His net worth may not be in billions like his father-in-law’s but he is definitely worth millions of UK pounds. Earning that kind of money takes significant effort, and Amit’s obsessive attention to his work seemed to have irked his wife, who would rue about his inability to spend quality time with the family. Things went too far by 2014, and it was rumoured that the couple had filed for a divorce.
The Aftermath
Vanisha and Amit have stayed tight-lipped about it and continue to focus on their respective business interests. The news of their divorce gained widespread disconcert due the ostentatious display of wealth at their wedding, which everyone thought would always be an impediment even to fancy the idea of divorce. Not much is known about the progress of their divorce plea or whether they have finally been granted divorce. Anyway, we hope that the couple would reconcile and get back together to be a happy family once again.
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