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This Delhi businessman's ex-wife is now a reality TV star. They had an acrimonious divorce
Vishal Chawla is the ex-husband of Kalyani Saha Chawla and the son of Ravi and Mina Chawla, who started the luxury home decor business Ravissant in the 1980s.
In the latest season of Netflix’s Fabulous Lives vs Bollywood Wives, Delhi socialite Kalyani Saha Chawla explained that she still uses her ex-husband’s last name because it is important for her daughter to have a sense of family. While Kalyani has been in the public eye for years now, relatively little is known about her ex-husband Vishal Chawla.
Who is Vishal Chawla?
Vishal Chawla is the son of Ravi and Mina Chawla, who started the luxury home decor business Ravissant in the 1980s. He is a director in the family business, along with his sisters Charu and Malini Chawla.
Ravissant has a paid-up capital of ₹1.42 crore and operates a chain of luxury boutiques in Delhi and Mumbai renowned for high-end Indian handicrafts and luxury goods. The brand offers premium home decor, exclusive home furnishings, silverware and other luxury items.
Though he is today involved in Ravissant, Vishal Chawla did not immediately join the family business upon graduating from college.
“I come from a family that earned its name in the business of luxury goods. My parents, Ravi and Mina Chawla, created Ravissant 15 years ago. Joining them would have been the fastest route to success but living away from home since 15 gives you a strong sense of independence,” he told the Business Standard in 1998.
Chawla completed his schooling in England and went on to do a BBA. He then joined Swiss bankers who were launching a luxury goods manufacturing company and helped set up their London office. During this time, Chawla travelled extensively in India and China to source products.
A Delhi socialite
After his stint with the Swiss bankers and their luxury business, Chawla moved back to Delhi to set up his own venture. He got into the business of manufacturing luxury leather goods.
It was during this period that he met Kolkata girl Kalyani Saha, who had also moved to Delhi, and the two started working together. They eventually went on to get married.
“In 1995, I met Vishal he was exporting leather handicrafts and I was making them. Since marketing was my forte and creativity his, we decided to pool together our resources,” Kalyani told Business Standard in 1998.
Vishal and Kalyani Chawla was once regulars on Delhi’s Page 3 circuit. However, their marriage broke up when their daughter Tahira was two-years-old.
A Deccan Chronicle piece from 2014 mentions how the divorce was long and acrimonious. While Kalyani did not ask for maintenance and alimony for herself, she asked that her father-in-law Ravi Chawla provide her daughter Tahira with a 3BHK, pay for her education abroad and take care of her marriage expenses.
However, in an Instagram post in 2021, Kalyani said that she and her ex-husband Vishal are now on friendly terms.
After his divorce, Vishal Chawla was linked to photographer-socialite Natasha Singh, who was found dead in a 5-star Delhi hotel on March 17, 2002.
At that time, India Today had reported how police had questioned “ Vishal Chawla of Ravissant who had been seeing Natasha regularly for six weeks and was at her house early on March 16.” Natasha Singh’s death was eventually ruled a suicide.
(Also read: Who is Sanjay Passi? Delhi businessman and husband of Fabulous Lives vs Bollywood Wives star Shalini Passi)
