Here's everything you need to know about the colourful life and some hidden family secrets of the famous Indian businessman and millionaire, Vijay Mallya and his three wives. Check it out!
Indian businessman, Vijay Mallya is the chairman of United Breweries Group, which is a multi-industry company that deals with alcohol, real estate, aviation, fertilizer and much more. Also famous for being the former owner of Kingfisher Airlines and the ex-chairman of United Spirits, Vijay Mallya is often referred to as 'The King of Good Times'. However, for his involvement in the infamous IDBI bank loan default case worth Rs. 720 crore and tons of other frauds to his name, Vijay Mallya is also called as "The Monarch of loan defaulters' in the world.
Although the list of Vijay Mallya's financial scandals is quite long and well-known to the entire nation, only a few are aware of his colourful personal life. Today, we talk about his first wife, Sameera Tayabji, second wife, Rekha Mallya, and third alleged wife, Pinky Lalwani. So without further ado, let's jump straight into the roller-coaster ride of emotions!
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It was in the year 1986 when Vijay Mallya was travelling to the USA for some of his business-related work. The flamboyant businessman was unaware of the fact that it was no ordinary flight, as he was about to meet his life partner. After Vijay Mallya entered the Air India plane and was having a comfortable journey, he saw an air hostess and couldn't stop himself from falling in love at first sight with her. That lady was none other than Sameera Tayabji, who was working as an air hostess for Air India.
If the reports are to be believed, as soon as Vijay Mallya and Sameera Tayabji had interacted with each other, the millionaire proposed to her for marriage. The young and dynamic Sameera also had feelings for him, and thus the lovebirds had taken the plunge pretty soon after their initial meetings. It was in the same year in 1986, when Vijay Mallya got married to Sameera Tayabji. After a few months of their marriage, Vijay and Sameera had welcomed a baby boy into their lives, and the newbie parents had lovingly named him Sidhartha Vijay Mallya.
Soon after the birth of their son, Siddhartha Vijay Mallya, the family had shifted to England. However, just when Vijay Mallya and his wife, Sameera Tayabji had thought about having a steady life, the cracks started appearing in their happy married life. After a series of fights and irreconcilable issues with each other, Vijay and Sameera got divorced and parted ways.
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It was in the year 1986 when Vijay Mallya and Sameera Tayabji had got married, and after just one year in 1987, they got divorced. At that time, Sidhartha Mallya was just a baby, but as he grew, he understood about his parents' divorce, and it was indeed a heartbreaking reality for him to digest. On September 27, 2021, Sidhartha had released his book, If I'm Honest, in which he talked about the impact of his parents' divorce on his mental health. In an interview with Khaleej Times, Sidhartha talked about his decision to open up about his parents' divorce in his book. Reflecting on the same, he had said:
"I think today the world is a little bit different. Something popped up on my Instagram feed the other day - the profile of a woman who is a 'divorce coach'. She guides parents and children through the process of divorce from a mental and psychological point of view. That shows, I guess, that more things like that exist today than perhaps when my parents got divorced 25 years ago. But I definitely think that divorce is one of those things that tends to get swept under the rug because it's become so common, which is why people think it's just a way of life."
Going further in the same interview with Khaleej Times, Sidhartha Mallya also shared his parents, Vijay Mallya and Sameera Tayabji's reaction to his book, If I'm Honest. However, the writer hadn't gone into details of their respective feedback to him about his decision to pen it all about their divorce and other family things. However, Sidhartha had shared that his father had sent him a picture of himself holding his book, but he wasn't sure whether he had read it or not. On the contrary, Sidhartha's mother, Sameera had praised him and told her son that she was extremely proud of him. Opening up about the same, Sidhartha had stated:
"I don't know if he's (Vijay Mallya) read it yet - I know he's bought it, he sent me a picture of himself holding it. But I didn't really discuss it with him. I don't really discuss what I do with anyone, really. I just told people I am writing a book and that was really it! My mum's (Sameera Tayabji) read it and she's very proud of it. So we'll see."
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After his tragic divorce from Sameera Tayabji, the multi-millionaire businessman, Vijay Mallya crossed paths with his childhood crush, Rekha, in 1993. At that very moment, while Vijay was divorced and single, luckily, Rekha was also heading to end her second marriage with her husband, Shahid Mahmood. It was indeed a move of destiny as the two childhood friends had met at the time when both of them could come together. As expected, Vijay Mallya had proposed to Rekha for marriage, and the latter had said 'yes'.
Vijay Mallya's second wife, Rekha had two marriages before marrying her childhood lover and renowned businessman. Rekha's first marriage was with a man named Pratap Chettiappa, who was a coffee planter. After divorcing him, she got married to Shahid Mahmood, with whom she had given birth to two kids, Laila and Kabir.
However, after their divorce, Shahid Mahmood got custody of Kabir, while Rekha shifted with her third husband, Vijay Mallya, along with her daughter, Laila. The businessman had adopted Rekha's daughter, Laila, with open arms, without hesitation. Also, after some years of their marriage, they welcomed two daughters, Leanna and Tanya.
There are no reports about Vijay Mallya's divorce from his second wife, Rekha, but there have been speculations about the businessman getting married for the third time. Yes! Reports are rife for some years now that Pinky Lalwani, who was a former employee in Kingfisher Airlines, was quite close to the businessman. The speculations were confirmed when she started getting spotted with him during the hearings of his legal cases in court.
If reports are to be believed, Vijay Mallya and Pinky Lalwani have been in a live-in relationship for some years now. The alleged couple will tie the marital knot whenever they need to make it official in front of the entire world. But as of now, Vijay Mallya and Pinky Lalwani are reportedly quite happy in their private space.
Only time will tell whether the reports suggesting Vijay Mallya's wedding with Pinky Lalwani hold some ground or not. But one thing is sure that, if the wedding is going to take place, it will be grand.
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