JLo, Trump Jr, Bolly stars at wedding of NRI industrialist's daughter in Udaipur

Udaipur is preparing for its own budget-friendly Ambani moment, as one of India’s most extravagant destination weddings of the year takes over the City of Lakes. Global celebrities — including Jennifer Lopez and Donald Trump Jr. — are flying in for the wedding of Netra Mantena, daughter of US-based pharmaceutical industrialist Raju Ramalinga Mantena.

Mantena, chairman and CEO of Ingenus Pharmaceuticals, runs operations across the US, Switzerland and India. With degrees in clinical pharmacy and computer science, he’s equally known for his flair: in 2017, he famously donated a Rs 8-crore, 28-kg gold garland to the Tirupati Balaji temple. So yes, a four-day palace-hopping wedding tracks perfectly with his brand of devotion and décor.

Netra Mantena has largely stayed out of the spotlight — until this wedding promptly spotlighted her. Her groom, Vamsi Gadiraju, is a tech entrepreneur: co-founder and chief technology officer of Superorder, a startup that builds software for multi-location restaurants. A Columbia University graduate, he is bringing a dash of startup sheen to the pharma-dynasty glitz.

The couple will tie the knot in a celebration stretching from 21 to 24 November, a schedule ambitious enough to require its own Gantt chart.

Bollywood royalty — Hrithik Roshan, Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Kriti Sanon, Jacqueline Fernandez — will join around 600 guests who have cleared their calendars for this marathon of ceremonies.

Meanwhile, Trump Jr. arrives on Friday, 21 November, escorted by US security agencies who have swept through Udaipur with the seriousness of people preparing for a defence summit.

He’ll stay at The Leela Palace, which has been redecorated in an opulent red theme — think 'royal durbar meets Diwali on steroids'. Before landing in Udaipur, he squeezed in a Taj Mahal stop and visited Jamnagar’s Vantara sanctuary, presumably as warm-ups for the main event.

Jennifer Lopez and South African DJ-producer Black Coffee are likely to perform, because even an Ambani-lite affair requires international glamour. Dutch DJ Tiësto already got the party started at The Leela on Thursday night.

Inside The Leela, flowers cascade from arches, giant chandeliers blaze overhead and plush red couches line the halls — making sure no one forgets how extravagant this wedding is meant to be.

Other iconic Udaipur venues — Manek Chowk, Zenana Mahal and Jagmandir — are being polished, draped and floralled within an inch of their architectural lives. Traditional Rajasthani performers, including Manganiyar singers and dance troupes, are booked to provide cultural ballast between the international DJ sets.

Security across Udaipur has been tightened to match the scale of celebrity traffic, ensuring the city is fully prepared for four days of pageantry, palace-hopping and pharmaceutical-tech-startup opulence.

The celebrations began with a musical night at Zenana Mahal on 21 November, followed by the haldi ceremony on 22 November. The couple will marry at Jagmandir on the morning of 23 November, with the reception later that evening, before guests make their exit on 24 November via chartered flights — because commercial airlines are strictly for those not attending Ambani-adjacent festivities.

With PTI inputs