Priya Sachdev is making headlines amid a high-stakes succession drama after Sunjay Kapur's sudden death. Kapur died of a heart attack during a polo match in the UK on June 12 this year.
Sunjay was married to Priya Sachdev at the time of his death. The couple are parents to a six-year-old son, Azarius. Priya Sachdev is right at the centre of a high-stakes Rs 30,000-crore inheritance dispute at the moment, along with several other stakeholders.
Priya and Sunjay married in 2017, after Sunjay's marriage with Bollywood actor Karisma Kapoor fell apart. While Priya was Sunjay's third wife (he was earlier married to Nandita Mahtani, followed by Karisma Kapoor), Sunjay was Priya's second marriage.
Priya was married to actor-hotelier Vikram Chatwal, and has a daughter with him, Safira. Priya's marriage with Vikram ended in a divorce in 2011. Safira, their daughter from the marriage, was later adopted by Sunjay Kapur.
Priya Sachdev and Vikram Chatwal had a grand Sikh wedding that transcended three cities and lasted a week. It was, like Page 3 journalists would say, the OG big fat Indian wedding before it became a thing.
Three Cities, Ten Days, And A Wedding To Remember
Three cities and ten days. That's how wide and how long the wedding of Vikram Chatwal and Priya Sachdev lasted.
The wedding was held across Bombay, Udaipur and New Delhi, and saw the who's who of Indian and international politics, showbiz and fashion in attendance.
Priya Sachdev and Vikram Chatwal's wedding
Vikram Chatwal, a jet-setting hotelier and former investment banker Priya Sachdev's wedding was a 10-day event filled with a myriad of rituals and celebrations. 600 guests from 26 countries were ferried around on chartered jets.
50,000 Kilograms Of Flowers And 65,000 Metres Of Fabric
According to New Delhi-based wedding planner Vandana Mohan, it was "the biggest wedding" she had ever done in 20 years of her career. Her duties involved managing 14 hospitality desks across different hotels and coordinating with 70 private cars for a three-city celebration.
Approximately 50,000 kilogram of flowers were flown in from The Netherlands, Thailand and Kolkata. They also used 3,000 candles and more than 65,000 metres of fabric for the grand event. Every event had a buffet with, of course, a medley of dishes across the globe that one can think of.
A New York Magazine report from 2006 quotes Vandana Mohan as saying, "For an Indian wedding, there is no timing. We had to make sure there was still food for everyone at 2 am."
The wedding was as grand and extravagant as it could get, with every moment being filmed for a Discovery channel documentary. The celebrations had their core in Vikram Chatwal's flamboyant lifestyle, who used to date supermodels like Kate Moss and Gisele Bundchen.
Chatwal Senior told New York Magazine, "In my next life," he said, "I want to come back as Vikram with me as a father."
A Painted Elephant And A Masked Ball
The wedding festivities kicked off on a Monday, with a party hosted by Queenie and Raja in Mumbai, followed by an all-white themed bash at a palace in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The next day featured an event called Fantasia, a masked ball held on a small island, drawing inspiration from Old Hollywood.
Vikram Chatwal and Priya Sachdev
The first pre-wedding celebration was an elaborate white-and-silver theme party where Priya Sachdev danced with Bollywood stars under the spotlight. Vikram Chatwal also accompanied her on the stage briefly. There was also a painted elephant roaming the courtyard!
The groom and bride hosted an opulent pool party in a 1760s fort in Udaipur after that.
On February 18, a giant sign was put up at the entrance of the Sheraton hotel in New Delhi to welcome the guest of honour, former US President Bill Clinton. That was not all. A red carpet was also rolled out in the lobby for him.
The D-Day Celebrations
Later that night, the wedding took place under an off-white tent in New Delhi, where Priya Sachdev and Vikram Chatwal tied the knot in a traditional Sikh wedding ceremony in front of Bill Clinton, Naomi Campbell, Lakshmi Mittal, Prince Nikolaos of Greece and many other prominent figures. Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was also among the guests at the Chatwal-Sachdev wedding.
Not A Happily Ever After
Vikram Chatwal and Priya Sachdev's wedding did not last too long. The couple got divorced in 2011, post which Chatwal was linked to several high-profile celebrities, including Kim Kardashian and Lindsay Lohan.
Priya Sachdev went on to meet, fall in love with, and marry Sunjay Kapoor after her divorce with Vikram Chatwal. Priya and Sunjay got married in 2017.
What Priya Sachdev Said About Her Marriage With Vikram Chatwal
Her first marriage, that with Vikram Chatwal, seemed perfect on paper, said Priya Sachdev. On the YouTube show Kin and Kindness, Priya spoke at length about her marriage to Vikram and how it fell apart.
"My ex-husband ticked all the boxes... He went to Wharton, worked at Morgan Stanley. I did mathematics at UCLA, a double major with UCLA and LSE... So I thought this is a perfect match," Priya said.
"You know how you do your career path, but it doesn't always work. I thought I had it all right... but I guess I chose wrong," said Priya.
Priya was a few weeks into her pregnancy when she first realised that things weren't right in her marriage, she said.
"When I had her (daughter Safira) and I realised, a few 15 to 20 weeks into my pregnancy, I realised this marriage is not right. But I still continued to make this work."
She parted ways with Vikram five years later, "My ex-in-laws called me apologising... I wasn't valued or appreciated for the sacrifices I made. That was one victory."
The Kapur Succession Drama
After Sunjay Kapur's sudden death in the UK on June 12 this year, a bitter succession drama has broken out between his mother Rani Kapur, wife Priya Sachdev and former wife Karisma Kapoor.
Sunjay Kapur had three biological children, two with his ex-wife Karisma Kapoor: Samaira (20) and Kiaan (14), and a son named Azarius (6) with Priya. Later, he also adopted Priya's daughter, Safira, from her earlier marriage to businessman Vikram Chatwal.
To claim Sunjay's inheritance, Priya has changed her surname to Priya Sunjay Kapur, while her daughter Safira has reportedly dropped "Chatwal" and now uses the name Safira Kapur. She would no longer have inheritance rights from her biological father, Vikram Chatwal, if Sunjay legally adopted her.