Jennifer Lopez stepped off a plane in Udaipur. Brown fur coat. Black heels. Sunglasses despite it being evening. The full international superstar package. She waved at the waiting paparazzi. Blew them a flying kiss. Started walking toward her car looking every inch the Hollywood icon she is.
Then someone yelled: “Welcome to India, Rihanna ma’am!”
Rihanna. Not Jennifer. Rihanna.
JLo didn’t stop. Didn’t correct them. Didn’t even acknowledge the mistake. Just kept walking to her waiting vehicle like nothing happened. Because when you’re Jennifer Lopez arriving to perform at a billionaire wedding that’s already hosting Justin Bieber, Donald Trump Jr, and half of Bollywood’s A-list, one confused paparazzo isn’t worth breaking stride.
But the internet? The internet had thoughts. Lots of thoughts. Twitter exploded. Reddit threads multiplied. WhatsApp groups couldn’t stop laughing. Because this isn’t just any celebrity mix up. This is mixing up two of the world’s biggest pop stars at an event so expensive and exclusive that Cirque du Soleil created a custom show called Cirque du Mehndi just for the sangeet.
This is the wedding of Netra Mantena, daughter of Orlando based pharmaceutical billionaire Rama Raju Mantena, to Vamsi Gadiraju, co-founder of tech platform Superorder. Three days of festivities at The Leela Palace and Jag Mandir Palace in Udaipur. International celebrities. Bollywood royalty. Political VIPs. And apparently, paparazzi who can’t tell JLo from Rihanna.
Welcome to India’s most insane wedding since Anant Ambani married Radhika Merchant last year. Share this with everyone because this story gets wilder with every detail.
The Paparazzi Mistake That Broke The Internet
Credits: Mid-day
Let’s start with that airport moment because it’s genuinely hilarious. Videos captured by photographer Viral Bhayani show Jennifer Lopez, 56, exiting Udaipur airport on November 22, 2025. She’s dressed impeccably. The brown fur coat isn’t practical for Udaipur’s November weather but makes a statement. The sunglasses add mystery. The heels announce she’s not here to be comfortable. She’s here to perform.
She spots the cameras. Waves. Smiles that megawatt JLo smile. Pauses briefly for photos. Blows a flying kiss. It’s textbook celebrity arrival choreography. She’s done this a thousand times in a thousand cities.
Then, clear as day on the video: “Welcome to India, Rihanna ma’am!”
Multiple paparazzi. Not just one confused person. Multiple photographers apparently believing they’re welcoming Rihanna to Udaipur. For a wedding Rihanna has zero connection to. At an event where JLo is literally the headlining performer.
JLo’s reaction is perfect. Nothing. No correction. No acknowledgment. She just continues to her car, gets in, and leaves. Professional to the end. But you know she heard it. You know her team heard it. And you absolutely know they’re laughing about it now.
Social media went predictably wild. “Paparazzi really called Jennifer Lopez ‘Rihanna’ I’m crying,” tweeted one user with 50,000 likes. “JLo flew to India and got mistaken for Rihanna this is peak comedy,” wrote another. “Imagine being JLo, arriving to perform at a billionaire wedding, and someone thinks you’re Rihanna. The disrespect but also the comedy,” added a third.
Some fans defended the paparazzi, suggesting the mix up was genuine confusion in the moment. Others pointed out that JLo and Rihanna look absolutely nothing alike and this was just sloppy work. Either way, the moment is now immortalized as one of the funniest celebrity arrival fails in recent memory.
Don’t miss who else showed up to this wedding that makes the Ambani celebrations look modest.
When Donald Trump’s Son Dances To Bollywood Beats
Credits: NDTV
If you thought JLo’s arrival was the wildest part of this wedding, buckle up. Because Donald Trump Jr, son of US President Donald Trump, flew to India specifically for this celebration. And Ranveer Singh made him dance to “What Jhumka?” on stage.
Let that sink in. The son of the American president. Dancing to a Bollywood song. At a pharmaceutical billionaire’s daughter’s wedding. In Udaipur. While Jennifer Lopez waits backstage to perform.
Video from the November 21 sangeet ceremony shows Trump Jr and his girlfriend Bettina Anderson on stage at The Leela Palace. She’s wearing a stunning gold lehenga choli. He’s in traditional Indian attire looking somewhat uncertain about what’s happening. Then Ranveer Singh, Bollywood’s most energetic star, bounds onto stage.
Ranveer doesn’t ask permission. He just starts making everyone dance. First to “Aankh Maare” from Simmba. Then “What Jhumka?” from Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. Trump Jr and Bettina have no choice but to go along with it, moving awkwardly to music they definitely didn’t know existed 24 hours earlier.
The video, shared by Wizcraft Weddings on Instagram, went massively viral. Comments ranged from “Ranveer Singh making Trump Jr dance is the crossover nobody expected but everyone needed” to “This is the most 2025 thing to happen in 2025.”
Trump Jr’s India visit actually started days earlier. He made a private stop at the Reliance Foundation’s Vantara wildlife rescue center in Jamnagar. Then visited the Taj Mahal in Agra. Then flew to Udaipur for the wedding. It’s unclear if this was official diplomatic business or purely social, but having the president’s son at your wedding definitely makes a statement about the guest list caliber.
The Billionaire Family Making This Possible
Credits: Live India
So who are the Mantenas and why is their wedding rivaling Ambani level extravagance? Rama Raju Mantena is the founder and CEO of Ingenus Pharmaceuticals, based in Orlando, Florida. His company specializes in generic medications and has been quietly building wealth while staying out of tabloid headlines until now.
His daughter Netra Mantena is marrying Vamsi Gadiraju, co-founder and CTO of Superorder, a tech platform. Both bride and groom are successful professionals in their own right, not just trust fund kids coasting on family money. Which makes this three day celebration feel earned rather than gratuitous.
The wedding venue selection alone shows serious planning. The Leela Palace Udaipur, where the sangeet occurred, is one of India’s most exclusive hotels. Rooms start at thousands of dollars per night. The property sits on Lake Pichola with views that have made it a favorite for destination weddings among the ultra wealthy.
The actual wedding ceremony happens November 23 at Jag Mandir Palace, a historic palace on an island in Lake Pichola. The venue has been used in James Bond films. It’s not rented casually. This is where royalty, both literal and metaphorical, gets married.
Between The Leela and Jag Mandir, the Mantena family has essentially taken over Udaipur’s most prestigious properties for three days. Add in security for international VIPs, performances by global superstars, custom entertainment like Cirque du Soleil, and you’re looking at costs that easily run into tens of millions of dollars.
For context, estimates suggested Anant Ambani’s wedding to Radhika Merchant in July 2024 cost over $600 million. The Mantena wedding won’t reach those heights but it’s absolutely in the same category of “so expensive it’s almost abstract” celebrations.
Share this with your friend who thinks their cousin’s destination wedding in Goa was fancy because this is a whole different universe.
The Bollywood Takeover That Made It A Party
Credits: Moneycontrol
While JLo and Justin Bieber grab international headlines, the real entertainment came from Bollywood stars who turned the sangeet into a full scale concert. Ranveer Singh, as mentioned, made everyone including Trump Jr dance to his hits. But he wasn’t alone.
Shahid Kapoor performed. Janhvi Kapoor lit up the stage. Varun Dhawan brought his signature energy. Kriti Sanon and Jacqueline Fernandez both performed. Karan Johar hosted the evening, using his trademark wit to keep things moving. It was essentially a mini IIFA awards show except at a private wedding with a much smaller, much wealthier audience.
Dutch DJ and record producer Tiësto also performed, adding international electronic music credentials to the Bollywood heavy lineup. The combination created a uniquely fusion atmosphere that’s become signature of big Indian weddings trying to appeal to guests from multiple cultures and countries.
Ranveer, never one for subtlety, also got everyone singing “Apna Time Aayega” from Gully Boy. The irony of ultra wealthy wedding guests singing a song about struggling to make it wasn’t lost on social media commenters, but nobody at the event seemed bothered. When you’re celebrating at that level, self awareness takes a backseat to having fun.
The guest list read like a who’s who of Bollywood and business. Multiple videos circulating on Instagram show various celebrities mingling, dancing, and celebrating. The access these videos provide is remarkable given how exclusive the event is. Clearly, the Mantena family wants this documented and shared, understanding that social media buzz is part of modern luxury events.
JLo’s History With Udaipur Weddings
Here’s what most coverage is missing: this isn’t Jennifer Lopez’s first performance at an Udaipur wedding. She previously performed at the 2015 wedding of UK based tycoon Sanjay Hinduja and Anu Mahtani, sister of fashion designer Nandita Mahtani. Videos from that event show JLo delivering her signature high energy performance to a very appreciative, very wealthy crowd.
So when the Mantena family wanted a global superstar for their daughter’s wedding, JLo made sense. She already knows the venue. She knows what wealthy Indian wedding audiences expect. She knows how to balance Hindi film songs expectations with her own hit catalog. She’s done this before and clearly did it well enough to get invited back.
Her performance fee for these private events isn’t publicly disclosed but industry estimates for superstar performers at Indian billionaire weddings range from $1 million to $5 million depending on length and complexity of the show. When Beyoncé performed at Isha Ambani’s wedding, reports suggested she earned $6 million for roughly 90 minutes of work.
JLo’s value proposition for these events is she brings legitimate global star power without being so massive that her presence overshadows the wedding itself. She’s famous enough to impress international guests but not so omnipresent that her performance becomes the story rather than the celebration.
Although getting mistaken for Rihanna by paparazzi might have shifted that balance slightly.
What Justin Bieber Adds To The Mix
While confirmed details remain scarce, multiple reports suggest Justin Bieber is also performing at the Mantena wedding. If true, this would be his return to India after performing at the Ambani wedding in July 2024, where he reportedly earned $10 million for his appearance.
Bieber’s potential involvement raises the entertainment budget even higher. Having both JLo and Bieber at the same wedding puts this firmly in the upper echelon of celebrity studded Indian celebrations. Only the Ambanis have consistently landed multiple global superstars for family weddings, and now the Mantenas are joining that exclusive club.
The strategic value of these performances extends beyond just entertainment. When Jennifer Lopez and Justin Bieber perform at your daughter’s wedding, you’re signaling to everyone watching (and social media ensures millions watch) that your family operates at the highest levels globally. It’s networking, brand building, and celebration rolled into one very expensive package.
The Cirque Du Soleil Element Nobody’s Talking About
Buried in coverage is this stunning detail: Cirque du Soleil created a custom show specifically for the Mantena wedding called Cirque du Mehndi. Not a standard Cirque show. A bespoke creation tailored to Indian wedding aesthetics and themes.
Cirque du Soleil doesn’t do private events casually. When they create custom programming, costs run into millions of dollars just for development before considering performance fees. The fact that the Mantena family commissioned original Cirque content shows the level of resources being deployed here.
Imagine sitting at the mehndi ceremony and instead of traditional entertainment, suddenly Cirque performers are doing aerial acrobatics overhead while incorporating henna designs and Indian classical music elements. That’s the kind of “only at this wedding” moment that money can buy when you have enough of it.
This detail hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves because JLo being mistaken for Rihanna is simply too funny. But the Cirque element might be the most impressive flex of the entire celebration because it required months of planning and negotiation to execute.
What This Wedding Says About Modern Indian Luxury
The Mantena wedding represents the current state of Indian ultra luxury: global, social media savvy, and unafraid of spectacle. Where previous generations might have celebrated privately, today’s billionaires understand that documented extravagance serves multiple purposes.
It cements social status. It builds brand recognition. It creates content that keeps their names circulating in aspirational contexts. It signals to business partners and potential collaborators that this family operates at the highest levels. And honestly, it just looks really fun.
The combination of Bollywood stars, international music icons, political VIPs, and circus performers creates a uniquely modern Indian celebration that feels both traditional (the mehndi, sangeet, and wedding structure) and contemporary (the celebrity performances and social media saturation).
Critics will argue this represents wasteful excess while inequality persists. Supporters counter that these celebrations employ thousands of people, from event planners to caterers to security to local vendors, pumping money into Udaipur’s economy. Both perspectives have merit, but the reality is billionaire weddings aren’t going anywhere regardless of commentary.
Drop a comment: Would you rather have JLo or Justin Bieber perform at your wedding? Does calling JLo “Rihanna” make this the funniest celebrity arrival ever? Share this with your wedding planning friend who thought spending 50 lakhs was excessive because this is a whole different budget category.
Follow for more updates from India’s most expensive wedding since the Ambanis because when billionaires celebrate, the rest of us get incredible entertainment just watching. And occasionally, we get paparazzi calling Jennifer Lopez the wrong name, which honestly might be worth the price of admission alone.
When Jennifer Lopez walked past paparazzi calling her Rihanna without missing a beat, she proved something important: at her level of fame, mistaken identity is just Tuesday. At the Mantena wedding, where global superstars and political dynasties converge in Rajasthan for three days of celebration that costs more than most people earn in lifetimes, getting someone’s name wrong is the least surprising thing that’ll happen. And that’s exactly why millions of people are watching every leaked video, gossiping about every detail, and living vicariously through a wedding they’ll never be invited to but can’t stop following.
