The Super-Rich Royals of India: The Secret Lives of the Maharajahs | Indian Wealth Documentary

[Music] [Applause] the public's waiting outside [Music] can i take the cell phone on my elephant [Music] then indian prince heads towards his destiny he's 25 and is wearing his grandfather's wedding clothes he looks better than prince william yeah like that's a statement [Music] in india fairy tales still exist and this is one of them a living dream amidst the last of the maharajahs and their heirs like prince dhananjay singh whose marriage of the century will feature seven days of grandiose ceremonies and to which we've received a special invitation it's my dream to have a marriage like this that a prince comes from me on an elephant on the magnificent lake a businessman prince has opened the doors to some of the most beautiful palaces in the world his family owns ten today they've been converted to luxury hotels where movie stars come to relax the prince of udaipur is selling dreams and there are plenty of [Music] buyers of the third millennium bridge modernity and secular tradition the youngest of these blue bloods is 13 years old and goes to school but on weekends has 400 servants at [Music] the home of the past and the secrets of the dream machine a look behind the scenes at the grandest of indian families [Music] rajasthan is the land of kings a state in the north of india its history has been dominated by the maharajas and their alliances and wars these days they no longer decide the fate of men but villagers continue to live in the shade of their wealth and sumptuous palaces kimsar's palace dates back to the 16th century and it still belongs to the dynasty that built it it's about to host one of the greatest marriage ceremonies in its history a traditional marriage but with a pinch of modernity the maharaja's family wanted to open it up to the world they asked for american know-how as well as this man kunit his parents are indians but he grew up in the united stressed he's unfamiliar with the country's trade union practices the funny thing is i don't really know what's going on with the ceremony so i'm kind of winging it okay he's been working on the wedding for six months his is an international team americans and a french designer olivia olivia first came to india when she was 22 years old and she has never left she now speaks fluent hindi and is doing what she's always wanted how long have you been living in india i've been here 12 years maybe a little longer could he have done this in another country oh you have card blanche in india you can let yourself go there are so many guests you can do things on a grand scale in france things are more restricted [Music] the colors the ideas the small gifts little things and because of the budget too you can do so many things here is there a lot of excess then oh yes a lot more and that's what they want so it's really nice and the budget is several hundred thousand dollars although the exact amount won't be revealed anything goes here the workforce isn't expensive for a few euros a day dozens of villagers are able to work some 400 distinguished guests are expected for a week-long celebration seven lunches and seven dinners prepared by india's greatest chefs the lucky few will be lodged in the palace itself all paid for by the maharaja the other guests will stay in a specially designed oasis hundreds of tents with every comfort have been set up on the desert side okay so let me give you whatever we have left over [Music] it'll be sublime at the same time in the village the royal family is providing a giant banquet of 30 000 meals for the villagers to thank them for their help [Music] hello how are you i haven't seen you for a long time in five centuries not too much has changed the men come to greet the air and he slips them each a present a 100 rupee note the equivalent of a couple of dollars a poultry sum for the royals but an average day's salary for the locals it's just a symbolic gesture saying that they're here for the reception and they're just handing over a small gift [Music] for four centuries his ancestors ruled unopposed over this region the villagers touch his feet as a sign of respect as if he was still the master and they his subjects [Music] it is the most important function as far as the roots are concerned these are our roots we belong to this place for the last 20 generations trends are important but this is as important your relatives are important your friends are important but i think this is most important it should be noted that the villagers are also voters singh like many other maharajas has entered politics he's currently the minister of energy for rajasthan nice to meet you how are you how are you nice to meet you among the crowd is a group of french tourists who have shown up quite by chance during the banquet congratulations you're from france where in france which part of france are you from okay i was not too far from you four months ago i had come on for a vacation to alsace so i was in poulos [Laughter] [Music] it was like in a court where everyone's venerating the king and queen at the incredible cost and not far away you see people without water living in filth and poverty it's like the times of the french revolution [Music] the lord who keeps the loyalty of his people with a few bowls of rice the old feudal system has not entirely disappeared even if the maharajas now have to work for a living [Music] in kimsha 200 kilometers away the 21st century has caught up with the heir to the throne of udaipur singh flanked by his bodyguards inspects his domain it resembles a scene from octopussy when james bond was also on the lake's waters [Music] these days the palaces of udaipur welcome stars from around the world nicole kidman and julia roberts have both stayed in the lake palace where lakshai's ancestors once lived his breath palace was a summer residence and the monsoon palace that you see on top of the hill there that was uh the times when the family used to shift there in the monsoon being one of the highest points when the when the monsoons used to be there the clouds used to be below the uh below the hill so it used to be as if the palace is actually flying well my grandfather converted the lake palace into a hotel in the early 1960s and then subsequently the others were made into hotels as well predominantly to be able to sustain these huge structures otherwise trying to maintain them in today's time is a huge challenge so obviously economics was one of the major reasons at that point in time to ensure do you at any point being slightly dispossessed no not at all i think being able to share your home is a fantastic feeling like his father before him is a maharaja turned businessman he manages the ten family palace hotels and is heading to one of them to supervise preparations for a marriage [Music] first they come in from over there and then go to the garden there they'll exchange the garlands of flowers as the music plays and then fireworks and the procession can begin the prince went abroad for his studies to australia to learn hotel management on his return an empire was waiting but he's never forgotten what he was taught as he learned his trade attention are these going to be the decorations my first job ever and um it was a huge banquet for about 600 people in australia my first ever experience and for breakfast we started shift at four in the morning and i remember carrying these seven bottles seven glasses of coke which i obviously you would have imagined what must have have happened to that tray it obviously went and collapsed on the guests who had asked for it so it was a bigger the biggest disaster that would have ever happened more dees as a businessman than as a waiter the heir to udaipur's throne it's about on a golf cart he is at home after all a third of the town belongs to him including the prestigious city palace ancestors built it in the 16th century it's the largest fortress palace in rajasthan 500 metres long and 30 meters high it dominates the city this is his home even though part of the palace was converted into a five-star hotel 40 years ago there are 30 bedrooms decorated with old world charm none more expensive than 230 dollars a night affordable luxury that is the secret of the success of the singh family's palace hotels as well as the unforgettable views excellent it's all under control everybody ready to rock and roll yeah yeah what's this thing we have two events yes we have two events today and for monday it's all said and the transport yes the board of directors is meeting as it does once a week in the reception hall of the city palace under the eyes of like siraj's illustrious forebears the heir has to make do even though he'd prefer the atmosphere to be rock and roll but you're still very young you're just 27 and you've got an immense amount of responsibility to you do you like it do you enjoy it or sometimes is it too much sometimes it is too much there's no question about it no one's not going to shy away from it and say that no it's not and it's all very fantastic and rosy as much as it may look and as much as it may be tell us at next end yes but everybody has their days you know you like pulling your hair apart and that's why i like keeping my hair short so you know it's it's uh yes it does get to you as any other thing in life you know whatever you may do even if i was running a t stall sometimes even if you're running a t-stall gets to you to be the son of a maharaja isn't always a soft option laksharaj like other princes left home at a young age to be better educated [Music] the young aristocrats are sent to mayo college a boarding school whose austere and mysterious atmosphere resembles harry potter's hogwarts school [Music] it's 6 a.m and it's time to start the day [Music] there are some 900 kids the cream of the indian elite all with wealthy parents the richest is padman and singh age 13 a maharaja and with an estimated personal fortune of almost 600 million dollars but everyone is treated the same here regardless of rank or title is learning to live in a community without his 400 servants are there some mornings where you do not want to wake up but we have to how long have you been here two years two years in my third year [Music] [Applause] his cousins his grandfather his great-grandfather and many of his ancestors were all at the school which was founded in 1875 to educate the sons of royalty in those days the princelings lived with a retinue of as many as 300 servants things have changed patman is treated like any other pupil and has shown no leniency in the morning exercise routines [Applause] his parents and of course everyone have it in their mind that he should be treated like a normal child no people told him no not at all not enough it's not required actually i said favor i will give once he will ask for it he never asks is one among the eight thirty millions when he arrived told no one he was a maharaja i thought if i tell them that all they'll all tease me and i thought it could have happened but no they were good friend and they supported me and why were you afraid that they would tease you no because i was not that everyone they all were like not like i don't know but i just thought they'd tease me now i can do many things which i could have done that time for example like mischief and yeah if again if i do like more responsibilities the school educates future lawyers business leaders and politicians padmanab would like to study law but for the time being he's a boy like all the others with the same interests such as football [Music] he being a maharaja does not affect our friendship rhythm because we as friends is good friends and being a king does not affect anything so the fact that being is something that doesn't advantage you i don't know i'm just i'm too young to know that do you know what that is it one teaches me around you don't want to know for the moment [Music] [Applause] [Music] yet he came very close to never becoming the maharaja his parents somewhat shocking story almost cost him the throne as we shall discover at kimsha there is no scandal and all is going as planned on day six of the party the prince attends the gift ceremony his mother greets the family of her future daughter-in-law the bride is nowhere to be seen and won't be seen right up until the last moment [Music] [Applause] all members of the rajput cast have been invited descendants of maharajahs now bankers lawyers businessmen another sign of the times even foreign friends of the prince have been invited it's amazing it's very uh we're very impressed so far it's very special i mean we've i've never been to india so it's a very great moment to share with him they met dallin jay in switzerland when he was a student at hotel school at the time none of his classmates knew he was a blue blood when i saw him he was just one of the students you know like all together like 10 people in one room hanging out and we did everything by our own we had to we have to clean our rooms for ourselves and now here he needs to delegate and he's so formal he looks nice huh he was very fat he lost 37 kilos so he has a whole new look nice hotel made me huge fondue and racklet so i came back and i said let's get back to ship so i just started running now he's running behind negesia dan and jay will receive hundreds of gifts from simple dried fruits to valuable objects handed down to families over the generations these yeah it's still sinking in soho called the ticker is placed on dan and jay's forehead his destiny is tied now to the family of his wife-to-be [Applause] would you like to marry a prince oh who wouldn't want to marry a prince there's a lot of pressure though we're here to find our prince in fact dan and jay is no longer free the agreement between the two families has just been concluded he can now fetch his waiting bride from his palace on the back of an elephant [Applause] the good thing this is the best time actually to fly because clear sky and the prince of udaipur wants to make the most of life as a single man for a little longer this weekend he has asked us to meet him at the family's aerodrome to share in his passion for model airplanes to which he dedicates several hours a week yes very easy to break there's no doubt about it it matters little as his engineering team maintains the aircraft and encourages him to make him happy i think it's something that's very very relaxing and therapeutic if i can say um and it relaxes your favorite because you have to have 100 concentration when you're flying the aircraft so you have no choice but to forget everything else that goes on do you remain a kid in your heads when you play not sometimes all the time a big kid who also collects large luxurious cars vintage models from a time when only maharajas and british colonists could drive around in such fast cars predominantly both these cars were ordered in a pair one was for my grandfather the open one here on the left the green and the uh the black was uh for my grandmother so both of them were already in a pair so this used to be when because of that time and error there used to be the prada system when the one couldn't look at the ladies from the outside so that is why this car was was covered in fact the phantom 2 that you see out there was one of the cars that were used in the one of the modern films that was shot here in india so yes you will kind of get a glimpse of that kind in that film the turn a turn-of-the-century cadillac a phantom and a rolls-royce just some of the family's 20 collection cars from time to time like takes ones for a spin through the streets of udaipur he calls it going walkabout [Music] yes absolutely you know they're all waving nice to kind of say hello to them because you're really not this open when you're traveling in the city so when you when they see you this close and upfront you know it makes them more approachable and i'm probably more approachable to them as well so a gilded youth but at what price it's hard for the hereditary prince of udaipur to stray from the path chosen by his family he's currently the last in the line a responsibility he has to live with every day his ancestors palace has been transformed into a museum where he is constantly reminded of his duties the first of which is to make a good marriage yes no yes you know absolutely i think marrying within the community is something that we we all have done for 1500 years and i see no reason why it should change today and it's something that i feel very strongly as well as values of the house and it is something that needs to be needs to be upheld and maintained you cannot be the one who could break the language oh um you cannot be the one um i do not wish to be the one an arranged marriage to perpetuate the dynasty is an obsession for maharajas they say it is part of their lifestyle a tradition that needs to be continued from childhood princes are raised on these principles and those who waver run great risks it's summer in rajasthan and the king the little maharaja is in the capital jaipur home on his holidays and is getting ready in his apartment [Music] it's his birthday and he is expected on the royal throne [Music] in the palace 400 servants have gathered for the occasion among them are his aide de camps a french expression dating from the colonial period and the name for his closest assistance there are 16 of them all inheriting their functions from their fathers before them considered bad manners if you keep this thing when the manager's coming we should be properly dressed nothing should be missed you know that's why he's he's trying to get perfect especially for this someone here why you are not properly dressed something is missing he will immediately say my forefathers working for the king i am also working for the king and my son will also working for the king is the family business why is so important for you to maintain this intent we want to make our i told you we want we want to make maintain our heritage system we don't want to be a modern we want we want modern but we want to maintain our social system and everything we should maintain it's a system that keeps many in work an entire court revolves around its protege the last in the dynasty since its founding in 1033 there has been 44 generations of maharajah [Music] is learning the moves and gestures of his illustrious predecessors the men of the court calm and pay their respects to the young prince they touch his feet and offer up a few coins the palace cameras record every moment of the endless procession [Music] so they're giving money not money this money goes to this poor people like that there's respect [Music] these days their duties are more ceremonial padmanab's closest advisor is his father [Music] it is he's only 14 years old and he had a lot of responsibilities on his shoulder so i'm sure he must be having a lot of pressure but i'm happy to see that he's really carrying it so well yes [Music] narendra singh never thought his son would one day become the maharajah he had never been a prince he broke his way into the different world of the jaipur royal family when he fell in love his royal highness is the godfather of these two my children okay so he's the godfather for my son the elder one and that's my daughter she's 13 so he's the godfather he's a prince charm still and that's of course uh his extensive president clinton he also visited here what a wonderful man [Music] prince charles is a frequent visitor to the palace of jaipur he first came with princess diana and later with camilla the two families are very close singh was never really meant to be part of the picture when he was young he was the princess's driver but the two fell in love a romeo and juliet romance that caused a scandal the royal family remains tight-lipped about the affair but in the lower levels of the palace the archives tell their own story or at least the people that work there do in fact they can't stop talking about the jaipur royals and what happened to make the 1000 year old dynasty taint its pure blue blood princess from jaipur should have married a prince so he was not a prince and later on he was accepted as maharaj but at the beginning not at all in the beginning what did people say what did they think at that time at the beginning at that time there was some news in newspapers and it was scandal in the community in the rajput community itself they were not expecting to marry a prince or say a person who is lower in rank he was from the same community but lower in rank that you can see and princess she said i don't care i don't care so a lot of courage yes that needed girls young padmanab as the son of a princess and a chauffeur should not according to tradition have acceded to the throne but when his grandfather the king died in 2011 he is summoned to burn his ashes at age 12 he inherits the title of maharaja not without some clever maneuvering by his family [Music] in kimsha the festivities are still going strong with a future bride still tucked away inside the palace [Music] no one has seen her face yet apart from immediate family in other words those who chose her such as dan and jai's mother who can't resist introducing her albeit over a cell phone but i don't know i don't think it's a nice one rajput system the girl send the photograph and the horoscope to the boys the girl scenes so then if you like the photo [Laughter] the betrothed is called immigration she's from the neighboring state of gujarat she's a princess and also a member of the rajput cast the crucial factor in making such a marriage feasible i never understood when i was young when my mother used to talk about bloodline i never understood now i understand like my son is the 20th generation and now all along the bloodline is all right and if you marry out of cast then the mixed blood you know it gets mixed up and then it's all finished the time to fetch the bride is getting close and the atmosphere is jubilant we are planning to give all my friends uh indian sari each which is completely pre-tied and we're basically going to teach them how to wear it and turban's for the men so it's going to be right they don't make it or maybe if it's i have to make sure yeah you have to make sure that nothing falls out [Applause] yes the turbine is fashioned from seven meters of material wrapped around the head it feels a little bit heavy heavier than i was expecting actually but if it's like nice you know part of the the game i guess [Music] in the past the king's court would have ridden out on horseback to collect the bride but these days it's an air-conditioned bus and luggage on casters they head to where the princess lives in jaipur a few hundred kilometers away and a six-hour drive the women of the family stay behind in kim shah [Music] by tradition the women never attend when the bride is introduced and traditionally they get bored but this is 2012 and they'll be entertained and olivia the wedding organizers have laid on a very special glamour-filled evening i love james bond and i just felt like it's kind of an appropriate way to launch off of the wedding festivities and get away from the orange and offer the ladies something else to do because um you know normally it's just dinner lunch or lunch and they wait for the ride and this way we can yes the first of the women are downstairs and i'll greet them with a flower i got ready in two minutes let's go i will give you some other rajput traditions are the veils women wear to avoid being seen by the men but tonight however they'll swap their veils for some charming accessories [Music] and then oh yeah that's really nice and then [Laughter] what do you say i think it's great and why don't you take some a silver flower or something it's not confusing they get a bit mixed up to begin with but but they like it it's my personal touch i had to hunt around a bit as i spend a lot of my time in markets browsing for objects sourcing as they say i also helped punit decide what to buy and gave him some ideas and added a few splashes of color here and there the queen immediately agreed with olivia and punet's idea she wanted to modernize the wedding a ceremony that is rigidly codified i'll just clip it that's beautiful yes thank you looking forward to gambling money okay the ladies will be royally entertained as a casino has been set up at the palace for their pleasure blackjack roulette for the first time in their lives they'll have a chance to play the demon's game [Music] just to spice it up a little we put things like this and i think it's come out really well i think people have liked it and they're enjoying themselves but that was our basic objective [Music] the princesses are giving their all on the dance floor kunit and olivia are surprised by how successfully everything is going they've never seen the ladies dance like this [Music] before actually i think that as much as things change they stay the same and i think that you see that in the nature of human beings and you see that in the nature of indian royals or modern indian royals and [Music] my guests are happy [Music] a hectic evening while in jaipur the final preparations for the marriage ceremony are underway in quite a different atmosphere as will become apparent the dynasty's continued success depends on being able to mix tradition with modernity the prince of udaipur is quite happy to wear the right kit for a game of cricket if the ball's coming straight at me i'll let it buy a simple relaxation to please the fans that have made the journey to watch his training session the prince is a local celebrity [Applause] yeah he's playing very nice last match he took the four wicket he's the youth icon for the therefore all the youngsters yes he can forget his princely responsibilities and retinue but off the ground he's the only one sitting on the sofa [Music] even the ketchup is served in a silver sauce [Music] how did you feel on the field [Music] you could have been a professional player if i would have opted to be a career probably yes but then i chose to make it into um where i can make opportunities for people to play so i had when i came to cross junctions of life of trying to decide that if i can kind of make it into a professional career myself or i can help people to do or voice to or talent to play and i decided that it would be easier and better that if talent kind of goes ahead his father has other ambitions for his only son the photographers are constantly on the lookout lakshyaraj is regularly featured in the gossip magazines which chronicle his various girlfriends it's something his family doesn't really approve of he refuses to talk about either the photographs or his private life the heir to udaipur wants to make it clear he's conforming although he has little other choice his father who has been the maharaja of udaipur for 30 years agrees to be interviewed over cocktails on the private terrace at his palace [Music] written content yeah all i've asked him to do is not to sell the call because if you kill the goose that lays the golden egg which is such a tempting thing to do and which most of the maharajahs and our brethren have done you'll be nowhere values will remain like you said that you have to have a suitable match now that management language is what has always been the case here it has never been defined as the language of management but basically that is what it has always been it's a question of managing your affairs in other words a good marriage is good business no question of losing his privileges and the son will do as father wishes [Music] what happens in fact to those who go against the grain and dare marry for love in the palace of jaipur all is calm again after the storm caused by the young prince's parents more than 15 years ago padmanabh sees his tailor every few months he's growing quickly and his clothes constantly need to be adjusted do you remember the first time you wore a costume you're too small yes three years old so that's the time he ordered something like this and he was very uncomfortable because the caller he didn't like it so he was very very uncomfortable and he was crying and then the fittings are a time when father and son can bond his biological father because officially padmanabh is the son of his grandfather who adopted him when he was five let him go now in 2003 the big ceremony took place here at the palace and a lot of people were invited and and the adoption ceremony took place here at the palace and formerly me and my wife handed over to to his new parents to the you know to his to his uh grandparents and and then since then he became their son and we sort of we don't have adsense right on him as a son i mean we relinquished our rights as a son and handed over to his new parents so since then he became their son by adopting padmanabh his grandfather gave him rank royal blood and ended malicious gossip as your son when was the last time you shouted at him or he told him what he was doing was wrong or that keeps happening several times it happens because because after all he's a he's a baby you know and they're supposed to do you know mistakes like i one day i took him to the club to play tennis and i wanted him to warm up first and then play so he he straight away wanted to go and play you know i didn't want to waste time and warming up and all that so i had to really shout him you know and then he complained to my mother-in-law that my father is you know [Laughter] shouting at me so you know they know the children know how to find way out you know so that was the last time i shouted at him and that's how the family managed to get the throne for their son mother and grandmother finally agreed to be interviewed after weeks of negotiations since her husband passed away his grandmother has been in charge of family affairs we talked to her for a few minutes in her private office the maharani had to finally accept her daughter's marriage for love but she is expecting something else from her grandson when it comes to marriage and when the time comes i'm sure he'll consult his family and go and then decide on the girl i think he's a little conscious of that yes and if he decides to act independently like you did what will be both of you your reaction we should see when the time comes yes uh the reaction would be of course we would be very disappointed and uh but i suppose now like the times have changed but i would still not be very approving of it unless the girl it could be a love marriage with somebody who's uh was quite acceptable it could even be that age 13 has plenty of time to think about it when he's not in formal dress he puts on his baseball cap and calls his friends to come and play football in the palace garden for football today it's around six it's around six will be like one hour one hour he'd like to live like any other child his age but no one can make it and the young king will take his bike and end up doing a few rounds of the palace roof on top of his gilded prison the festivities surrounding the prince of kimsha's marriage are reaching their peak the wedding is soon to be formalized [Music] the prince has come to seek his wife on the back of an elephant [Music] here comes a bride veiled from head to toe in a few moments she will be tied forever and give up her freedom everyone is waiting to see her face [Music] a simple cloth separates the prince from his betrothed [Music] after a ceremony that has lasted seven days the bride is finally presented to the prince she now belongs to him and she's in tears a string is holding up her veil it's vital her face remains covered until the wedding night officially she is leaving her family for good and is no longer part of it i promise i'll come back to see you dad some have decided to break away from the feast and its rituals jay is the bride's uncle he's a prince too but gave up his heritage to live in the united states he married an american and his outlook has changed he's no longer part of this world it's a different world it's a sheltered world it's it's totally uh contrary i believe to what majority of india is i mean 230 million people are still hungry in this country today would you say that uh you know what's happening here today is cut off from the reality of this country i mean to an extent yes my family will hate me for saying this but yes that's true the maharajas cling to their traditions and often turn them into a business one way to finance their survival at udaipur the festival of holi celebrates the spring equinox in the streets both children and adults of all cases cover themselves with different colored powders [Applause] but there's none of the riotous joy of the street and the palace where holy is celebrated with pop and circumstance the heir is wearing his ceremonial clothes we'll find out shortly the worlds are receiving and have organized a carefully choreographed dinner spectacle the prince of udaipur himself plays the main role the guests are dozens of tourists who arrive in a convoy of golf carts each has paid around 100 to somehow travel back in time [Music] the heart of the city palace pageantry is out in force those who have paid a little extra are allowed to sit a little closer to the king think it's great i've never been in a i've never been in the lounddale before and i'd recommend them they're very they're excellent means of transport it's it's great i've never seen anything even remotely like [Music] the maharaja seems to have stepped out of a 16th century engraving which is of course what the tourists appreciate [Music] [Applause] it's old traditions do you think it's old-fashioned no if we love it absolutely love it because basically we're you know we're kind of allegiance to queen elizabeth so of course we love it these people are from england and they they love it too we're so happy we wanted to come desperately and it's it's costing us money but it's just great we can't understand why everybody isn't here [Laughter] very few people would have this experience i thought my whole left side right side no detail has been emitted the holy fire is enormous the dancers well trained and the spectators enthralled [Music] then the dinner among hundreds of candles refined indian cuisine and then the ultimate privilege of being able to exchange a few words with his majesty thank you [Music] absolutely amazing to be part of this thank you thank you very much australia was my second home for a long time really very much between sydney and the blue mountains didn't come to me no unfortunately not the hospitality industry kept me really busy 25 hours a day and eight days a week so it was really tough to be able to get out of here sydney is beautiful anyway it is you want a pizza yeah okay which other side is comfortable he will fetch in almost 25 000 it's just one of the dozen or so organized each year by the moa [Music] how do you feel knowing that people pay to come see you is that the modernity of the country i think i think what is what is fascinating that people come to attend this function people are inquisitive about this function people want to associate themselves with this tradition and with this culture that i find very overwhelming and you take advantage of it in a good way while the sun is keeping the tourists entertained the father is hosting indian families each slips a banknote into his hand as a sign of respect the old maharaja has lost none of his aura [Music] in the palace of kimsha the party is almost over the couple arrived tied together the bride following behind the groom the prince brings his wife home and she enters her new house that belongs to her in-laws and to her new life now she's out of public view she can finally remove her veil the prince's parents greet her with a few presents and she kisses their feet a sign of respect and of submission one after another the family members come to inspect her so sweet the prince's grandmother savors her success she's the one who picked out him grisha among all the various candidates i saw her first in gujarat i was there last year the mannerism was good some people you can make out by seeing them and the way they behave no very bad [Music] the princess appears a little intimidated she's 22 and has to mind her gestures and respect the protocol to begin with keep her gaze downwards to avoid seeing men looking at her [Music] the wedding barely over and grecia will have to take on the responsibilities of a princess from this moment onwards she introduces herself to the villagers [Applause] everyone jostles for a chance to take a look at the happy chosen one it's in grecia's first appearance in public since her marriage the comments are made under watchful eyes [Music] i come from a rajput family so even i know my duties and responsibilities as a rajput girl and i would just like to live up to my in-laws expectations that's the only goal of my life [Music] i'll try and fulfill those [Music] five years of studies a master's in management and grisha is by no means naive surrounded by her in-laws she knows what she had to say it's conformist and respectful to ancestral culture with the traditional style wedding dan and jay has stepped back into line he too has to conform to protocol from now on but it's certainly less restrictive than his princesses my grandfather called me into his room and he told me look you've turned 18 in the next eight years you'll get married i just want to tell you one thing you can't have both things you know you can't use your family name you can have this respect going on and you don't follow the whole culture and tradition you go to new delhi bombay or whichever part of the world need your life we support you but you cannot do both things at one time i respect it [Music] chose a name rather than freedom [Music] thank you dj the only thing we can do today is to wish you your wife and your children children hey it has to come you're scaring me you're not scaring me but it's gonna tell you it's that happy ever after man and cheers for the best a kind of life that's been preserved in one of the poorest countries in the world that still venerates its ancient kings the last maharaja's continue to live in their fairy tale [Music] he was very fat he lost 37 kilos so he has a whole new look nice hotel school maybe huge fondue and racklet so i came back and i said let's get back to ship so i just started running now he's running behind me to get here [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] so that they get you

Channel: Java Discover | Free Global Documentaries & Clips

Views: 1,092,848

Keywords: java films, javafilms, javafilmstv, documentary, Real Stories, Full length Documentaries, Documentary, TV Shows - Topic, Documentary Movies - Topic, full documentary, full episode, The New Maharajahs, indian super rich documentary, life of super rich in india, indias new billionaire, India’s new billionaires, billionaires of india netflix, top 10 billionaires of india, young billionaires of india, meet the billionaires of india, bad boy billionaires of india

Id: h065Gtmpn7w

Length: 60min 59sec (3659 seconds)

Published: Tue May 17 2022