Discover the evolving landscape of Indian weddings in this insightful discussion led by editor Chinki Sinha. From the influence of celebrities to the impact of social media, delve into the complexities of contemporary wedding culture. Learn about the fusion of tradition and modernity, the rise of destination weddings, and the societal shifts reflected in these grand celebrations. Join us as we unravel the spectacle, significance, and societal implications of weddings in India today.
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#Wedding #IndianWedding #DestinationWedding #WeddingTrends #CelebrityWeddings
Follow us on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Outlookindia
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Outlookindia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outlookindia
Whatsapp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaNrF3v0AgWLA6OnJH0R
Website: www.outlookindia.com
#Wedding #IndianWedding #DestinationWedding #WeddingTrends #CelebrityWeddings
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NewsTranscript
00:00 In the introduction, editor Chinki Sinha writes,
00:03 "Wed in India.
00:05 My middle-class family has watched too many clips
00:08 of the spectacular weddings of celebrities
00:11 that even have the power to change social media algorithms.
00:15 My aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces
00:18 have now started to hire choreographers
00:20 to train them to dance on stage in locations other than home
00:25 so they can have a destination wedding tag.
00:27 That's the trend."
00:29 In his Man Ki Baat episode last year,
00:31 Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked Indians to wed in India.
00:35 The big fat Indian wedding is now a big soft power export.
00:40 After all, Beyonce and Rihanna have been paid
00:43 enormous amounts of money to perform at the Ambani weddings.
00:47 That sets us up as people who can get a guest list
00:51 only comparable to a Davos summit.
00:54 Nevermind the poverty that's often pushed behind
00:57 giant billboards that advertise schemes
01:00 and achievements of our country
01:02 and big weddings that are televised
01:04 and projected everywhere on social media.
01:08 We are voyeurs.
01:09 We want to know who wore what and what it cost.
01:12 It's all about optics.
01:15 And optics is what matters in this day and age of social media.
01:20 Nobody wants to know that a Dalit man was beaten up
01:23 when he tried to ride a horse at his wedding.
01:26 That's not what changes the algorithms across the world.
01:29 It was way before these times that writer and artist
01:33 Susan Sontag wrote,
01:35 "Today, everything exists to end in a photograph"
01:39 in her 1977 book on photography.
01:42 At a recent family wedding, there was a lot of that.
01:45 Everything was inspired by filmy weddings.
01:48 The mandap overlooked the mountains.
01:51 The bride and the groom spent most of their time
01:53 posing for photos, which were then processed
01:56 by an event company and posted with a personalized hashtag.
02:00 We were in Egadpuri, and part of the resort
02:03 has a Dubai kind of feel.
02:05 In other spots, it looked like you were in the mountains.
02:09 There was an emcee, master of ceremonies.
02:12 There was a dress code for every function.
02:14 Most Indian weddings are no longer what they used to be,
02:18 but have become a showcase of social conservatism
02:21 with the glamorized return to tradition
02:24 in a way in which ambition and aspirations
02:27 are cast in a new mold,
02:29 where it is then mostly about class
02:31 and conspicuous consumption.
02:34 I remember when my cousin was getting married in the 1990s,
02:38 the film Hum Aapke Hai Kaun,
02:40 I had become all the rage.
02:43 The big fat Indian wedding was glamorized in a way
02:46 that even a small little neighborhood in Patna
02:49 had girls who were inspired by the outfits
02:51 Madhuri Dixit wore in the film.
02:53 Designed by Anna Singh,
02:55 who was one of the first costume designers
02:57 to work in the Indian film industry,
02:59 the purple saree that Dixit wore
03:02 cost around rupees 15 lakhs, according to reports.
03:05 Her green and white lehenga set was duly copied by the girls,
03:09 and they tried to replicate the ceremony
03:12 of stealing the groom's shoes.
03:13 I remember it led to a massive confusion
03:16 where the clueless groom just handed over the shoes himself.
03:20 Then we had mehendi and sangeet,
03:22 and over the years,
03:23 we started to do everything filmy, like everyone else.
03:27 Reports said that in about a month,
03:30 from November 23rd to December 15th in 2023,
03:35 about 3.5 million couples had weddings,
03:38 and the spending was about 4.25 trillion,
03:42 about $57 billion.
03:45 As per the confederation of all India traders.
03:49 The thing that we are losing in all this is the identity,
03:52 the uniqueness that we had in terms of customs and rituals
03:57 that made weddings also a site of memory of who we are.
04:02 Now it is a hybrid kind of wedding that fuses so many things
04:06 that it only becomes an exercise in ostentation and soft power.
04:11 A boastful thing too.
04:13 Rehana danced at a pre-wedding function
04:16 of the son of the ninth richest man in the world, Mukesh Ambani.
04:20 World leaders attended.
04:22 TV reports talked about elephant food there.
04:25 Everything bizarre became normalized, humanized,
04:29 and now we wonder, what will the wedding be like?
04:32 That's going to occupy the national imagination for a while.
04:36 All this money has done its bit.
04:39 Caste, class, and everything else that keeps us away from each other
04:43 have been celebrated, and how?
04:46 For this and more, read the latest issue of Outlook.