Rhea Pillai: Difference between revisions

| other_names        = Rhea Vaz<ref name="toirp" />

'''Rhea Pillai''' is an [[India]]n [[model (people)|model]] known for her works in television and advertising. In 2003, she was honored as the "Woman of the Year", along with [[Raveena Tandon]], [[Anoushka Shankar]] and [[Ritu Beri]], on [[International Women's Day]] for social service.<ref>[http://www.indiantelevisionacademy.com/site/awards_itawa_details.php?year=2003 The ITA Awards » GR8! Women Achiever Awards 2003] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101102025442/http://www.indiantelevisionacademy.com/site/awards_itawa_details.php?year=2003 |date=2010-11-02 }}. Indian Television Academy. Retrieved 2011-01-10</ref> In 2006, she had a minor screen role in the Hindi movie ''[[Corporate (2006 film)|Corporate]]''. Pillai is involved in the [[Art of Living Foundation]].<ref name=soulcurry>{{cite web|url=http://soulcurrymagazine.com/sc/rhea-pillai-exclisive-interview.html |title=Interview with Rhea Pillai |publisher=Soul Curry magazine|date= 6 March 2009|accessdate=2011-01-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110122114907/http://soulcurrymagazine.com/sc/rhea-pillai-exclisive-interview.html|archive-date=2011-01-22}}</ref>

Pillai was born the daughter of Raymond Pillai and his wife Durr-e-shahwar Dhanrajgir.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://daily.bhaskar.com/news/SPO-OTS-who-is-rhea-pillai-4602228-PHO.html | title=Who is Rhea Pillai? An account of her past, association with Sanjay Dutt and much more| date=2014-05-04}}</ref> Both of her parents were of mixed communal heritage, and theirs was also a mixed [[marriage]]. Her father, Raymond Pillai, was the son of a [[Malayalam]]-speaking Hindu father and an [[Anglo-Indian]] mother, and he was raised as a Christian. Pillai's mother, Durr-e-shahwar Dhanrajgir, was the daughter of Maharaja Narsinghraj Dhanrajgir Gyan Bahadur, a [[Hindu]] and one of the top noblemen of [[Hyderabad state]], by his consort [[Zubeida]], who hailed from a family of Muslim royals and had acted in the first Indian sound film ''[[Alam Ara]]'' (1931). She is also the great granddaughter of India's first female film director, [[Fatima Begum]] and happens to be the great niece of [[Sultana (actress)|Sultana]], one of the earliest film actresses from India who was the elder sister of her grandmother Zubeida.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cineplot.com/encyclopedia/sultana/|title=Sultana}}</ref>

In 1998, Pillai married actor [[Sanjay Dutt]], but they separated after a few years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indiaenews.com/bollywood/20070731/63397.htm |title=Sanjay Dutt |publisher=India eNews |date= 31 July 2007 |accessdate= 2011-01-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225140630/http://www.indiaenews.com/bollywood/20070731/63397.htm|archive-date=2012-02-25}}</ref> She stated in 2006 that they remain close friends.<ref name=tensed>{{cite web |url=http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/interviews/sanjay-dutt-291106.html |title=Rhea Pillai interview |publisher=One India |date=29 November 2006 |accessdate=2011-01-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.is/20130217223115/http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/interviews/sanjay-dutt-291106.html |archive-date=17 February 2013 }}</ref> After the divorce became official in 2008 and details of the settlement were published by the tabloid ''[[MiD DAY]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mid-day.com/articles/rhea-pillai-submits-documents-to-show-she-did-get-a-divorce-from-first-husband/18678182|title=Rhea Pillai submits documents to show she did get a divorce from first husband|website=[[Mid-day]]}}</ref> the broadsheet newspaper ''[[The Telegraph (Kolkata)|The Telegraph]]'' criticised Pillai for her [[Economic materialism|materialism]] and her conduct in relation to Dutt.<ref name=RPaffair>{{cite web |first=Bharathi S. |last=Pradhan|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/7-days/the-rhea-pillai-affair/cid/601367 |title=The Rhea Pillai affair |work=The Telegraph |date=23 March 2008 |access-date=2021-07-18}}</ref>

Pillai had a live-in-relationship with Indian [[tennis]] player [[Leander Paes]] in the 2000s. The couple has a daughter, Aiyana, born in 2005.<ref name=tensed/> She has filed a case against Paes and his father alleging [[domestic violence]] in June 2014 at a local metropolitan court.<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Paes-didnt-want-me-to-have-dignity-of-a-wife-Rhea-Pillai-to-court/articleshow/43130410.cms|title = Paes didn't want me to have 'dignity of a wife': Rhea Pillai to court|access-date = 16 January 2015|newspaper = The Times of India}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url = http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/rhea-pillai-files-compalint-against-leander-paes-says-he-has-evicted-her-from-their-home/|title = Rhea Pillai files complaint against Leander Paes, says evicted from their home|access-date = 16 January 2015|newspaper = Indian Express}}</ref>