We all have at some point talked about the biggest desi wedding that took place last month, on July 12. Yes, you guessed it right. It is the Ambani Wedding at a cost of Rs. 5,000 Crore. This was the wedding of Anant Ambanithe youngest son of the richest man in Asia, Mukesh Ambaniwith Radhika TradersDaughter of Viren Merchant, CEO of Encore Healthcare.

From the guest list to the celebs, including those from Hollywood, we all had our eyes on the wedding. Besides the excellent hospitality and the exciting concerts featuring many pop artists and modern Instagram influencers, even the smallest details were given importance. One example of this was the choice of the bride’s dress. She wore a panetar, a traditional Gujarati wedding dress in the colors of red and white.

People are deeply connected to their culture and Ambani family ensured that the wedding venue also displayed a fusion of modernity and tradition. Therefore, they commissioned digital artist, audio acoustic specialist and multimedia strategist Abhimanyu Chopra to decorate the venue with artwork. Chopra brought the tradition to life through modern technology.

“The Ambani Family is closely connected to Shrinathji, one of Vishnu’s incarnations. In Antilla, Shrinathji’s painting hangs in the banquet between the two staircases. So from the first moment I knew I had to use it as one of the artworks,” says Chopra.

How did it start?

Chopra’s family has always been designers, but it wasn’t until he came to Las Vegas and saw Cirque du Soleil, a type of theater that uses different media such as light, sound, technology and live characters, that he was inspired to explore light projections more deeply and incorporate them into his work.

Seeing him doing such unique work, the Ambani family initially invited him to design an immersive artwork for Kokila Ambani’s 90th birthday in February. “All the surfaces except the floor were completely immersive. There were tunnels that you could walk through and have an immersive experience. While there was a Lakshmi Ji on the main stage and Kokila Ambani was cutting her cake, the entire building was ablaze with light and gods and goddesses came and bestowed blessings. That’s how we planned our projection,” he says.

Wedding preparations

The family was impressed with his work and invited him again, this time to design art panels. “I was called two months before the wedding. We went to the house and explored it. Research was the most important part of our process. We work with modern technology but show traditional art, so it is very important not to mix the two. The story we want to convey has to remain traditional and authentic despite modern technology. Although I like to experiment, I also want to portray the authentic stories behind the art,” he says.

For the Shrinathji exhibition, Nita Ambani wanted to portray ‘Shringar,’ says Chopra. “To ensure that Shringar is portrayed correctly through the projection, we read religious textbooks, take advice from people and also from the Ambani family to ensure that every projection shown is authentic,” he says.

The artwork of Shrinathji was placed against the backdrop of Nathdwara, the landscapes were hand-painted in Pichwai style and later digitized. The motion artwork was finally brought to life on the wedding day in collaboration with MELA.

Challenges along the way

“The biggest challenge was the influx of people,” Chopra points out. The banquet was big and the guest list was even longer, so it was important to ensure that while people had a great, immersive movement art experience, their shadows didn’t fall on the projector and ruin the experience. “We placed the projectors in such a way that no matter how many people came, no shadow would appear,” he says proudly.

Not only Shrinathji, but Chopra also took care of many other artworks for the Ambani family during the wedding season. The biggest challenge, apart from the long guest list, was the rush. “For some events, we had three to four days to install everything, for others, just one day,” he says.

Although the trial was supposed to last 60 to 70 days, mock trials were held repeatedly to ensure that it ran smoothly.

“We made sure that everyone who looks at the artwork sees something new. So we not only made it a movement art, but we also made sure that the background, the colors and the elements are constantly changing so that it tells a story,” he says.