Film personalities, India Inc captains and cricketers among 300 invitees

Exotic flowers from Florence, a performance by an Oscarwinning musician, guests that included the country's most beautiful people, Bollywood stars, cricketers and business barons in an exquisitely lit palace in Jodhpur — all made the perfect setting for Nita Ambani's 50th birthday party on Thursday evening.

The wife of Mukesh Ambani, who owns India's largest private sector firm Reliance Industries Ltd and is the country's richest man, played host to a galaxy of celebrities at the Umaid Bhawan Palace. A tree on the grounds was festooned with pictures of invitees, depicting a family tree. The century-old venue, previously known as the Chittar Palace and now managed by the Taj group of hotels under lease from the Jodhpur Royals, was illuminated in gold and white. "The palace is totally mapped with 3D projections and decorated with flowers. It's extravagance never seen before," said a hotel employee. One musician who was to perform said the whole place was decorated with exotic flowers from Florence, in keeping with the theme of the party-—celebrating life.
Another guest who was at the venue said, "I was awestruck by the life-size tree, which was placed right inside the party venue. It has pictures of every guest hung on it and has been specially designed for the party theme."
Security was extremely tight at the venue and in Jodhpur as India's richest men and women descended on the town in Rajasthan for a grand party that will spill over into Friday, when the family celebrates Lakshmi Puja on Dhanteras at the Bal Samand Lake Palace, another luxury hotel about 10 kilometres away from the Umaid Bhawan Palace.
Earlier in the day, dressed in a pink designer salwar suit, Nita Ambani, who manages the Mumbai Indians Indian Premier League cricket team and oversees part of the group's retail business, landed in the town in her private jet with her husband, mother-in-law Kokilaben, daughter Isha and sons Anant and Akash. Guests started arriving in shortly after.
Among the 300 invitees were industrialists Anand Mahindra, Ajay and Swati Piramal, Gautam Singhania, cricketers Sachin Tendulkar (and wife Anjali), Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble, actors Aamir Khan, Juhi Chawla (and her businessman husband Jay Mehta), Ranbir Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee, Anil Kapoor, Vinod Khanna and Rahul Bose besides showbiz personalities Shekhar Kapoor, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Ronnie Screwvala and Prasoon Joshi.
Anil Kapoor tweeted pictures of himself on a private jet with fellow actors Kapoor and Khan en route to Jodhpur. A Bangalore-based designer tweeted he had delivered an outfit to Kumble, who is now part of the Mumbai Indians cricket team management. Others tweeted pictures of the palace lit after dusk. A hotel employee said that soon after arriving, the guests had tea with the hosts before dressing up for the party in the evening at which AR Rahman was to perform.
Another guest said the family had "gone out of the way to make everyone feel very welcome".
Mukesh Ambani's birthday gift to his wife wasn't known. He had given her an Airbus business jet on her 44th birthday. With a net worth of $21 billion (. 1,29,150 crore), Mukesh Ambani retained his title as India's wealthiest person for the sixth year in a row, according to the Forbes annual list of India's 100 richest people, released on Tuesday.