Meet Vijay Mallya's lesser-known daughter, Laila Mallya, whom the liquor baron adopted after his second marriage.
The name Vijay Mallya needs no introduction as the fugitive former Indian businessman is popular for his success and downfall. Apart from his multiple businesses, Vijay Mallya was also the founder of Kingfisher Airlines. The liquor baron was also the former co-owner of the Force India Formula One team and the Royal Challengers Bangalore cricket team. However, ‘The King of Good Times’ garnered a lot of limelight for his involvement in the infamous IDBI bank loan default case worth Rs. 900 crore and tons of other frauds to his name.
Vijay Mallya’s name was also linked with the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers. The business tycoon, who has many other frauds to his name, left India in 2016 and is residing in the United Kingdom while proceedings are underway to bring him back to India to face trial. Just like his professional life, Vijay Mallya’s personal life too often hit the limelight. Very few people know that the fugitive is the father of four children.
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While his son, Sidharth Mallya, often makes it to the headlines. Vijay also has three daughters, Leanna Mallya and Tanya Mallya and an adopted daughter, Laila Mallya. Today, we will delve into more details about Vijay’s adopted daughter, Laila.
After Vijay Mallya got divorced from his first wife, Sameera Tayabji, the multi-millionaire businessman happened to meet his childhood crush Rekha in 1993. Rekha too was heading for divorce from her husband, Shahid Mahmood.
Rekha and Shahid had two children, Laila Mahmood and Kabir Mahmood. After getting married to Vijay, Rekha shifted with him along with her daughter, Laila. The businessman adopted Laila with open arms and gave his surname to her.
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Born in San Francisco, USA, on April 6, 1979, Laila went to Mallya Aditi International School in Bengaluru, Karnataka. After completing her schooling, Laila went to Bentley University, Waltham, Massachusetts, for her graduation in International Business and also went to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.
Laila Mallya is a Vogue stylist and a jewellery designer and her jewellery line is called Social Butterfly. She outsources her products to a lifestyle store called Kahava in Bangalore. She also has a keen interest in fashion and has often appeared in many Fashion Week shows.
Laila Mallya got married to Samar Singh, an investment banker in 2011. The two got married in Bali in an intimate ceremony with less than 250 guests. Laila’s husband, Samar Singh is a good friend of politician Parth Pawar, who is the grand-nephew of Sharad Pawar. In 2019, Samar helped Parth with the marketing campaign for the Lok Saba elections. However, many Congress leaders blamed Parth for his liaison with the fugitive businessman, Vijay Mallya’s son-in-law.
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When businessman, Lalit Modi’s IPL scam came into the limelight in 2010 after the Kochi franchise complained to the BCCI that he had threatened them to give up the franchise, the name of Laila Mahmood, who was then tagged as a ‘mystery woman’ garnered a lot of attention.
It so happened that in 2010, when the Income Tax department raided the hotel of former IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi, an unknown woman was seen walking away with some documents. Suspecting that the woman, who carried a laptop and documents, IT authorities got into action.
The CCTV footage identified the woman as Vijay Mallya’s stepdaughter, Laila Mahmood. It was reported that Laila was Lalit Modi’s personal assistant. In a statement, her foster father, Vijay Mallya said:
“My step daughter Laila Mahmood works for Lalit Modi. I know nothing about this. I called Lalit Modi and he confirmed that she has given a statement to Income Tax.”
Apart from a stepbrother, Sidhartha Mallya, Laila has two half-sisters, Leanna Mallya and Tanya Mallya. Sidhartha Mallya, who was born to Vijay and his first wife, Sameera, is an American actor and model and was one of the directors of the football club Mohun Bagan. He was also the director of the IPL cricket team, Royal Challengers Bangalore.
On the other hand, Leanna is Vijay and Rekha’s daughter, who holds American citizenship and lives in San Francisco. No further information is available about Leanna. Laila has another half-sister, Tanya Mallya, the second daughter of Vijay and Rekha. Tanya, who lives in San Francisco, loves photography and went to Paris on the ‘National Geographic Student Expedition’ to learn digital photography.
We admire how, despite her foster father, Vijay Mallya’s wealth, Laila chose her own career and made a name for herself. What do you think about her? Let us know.
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