Madhavan recalls his love story with wife, Sarita, who was his student: 'She asked me out to dinner after ...'

She was his student once upon a time. However, Cupid struck, and they went on to tie the knot in 1999. In an interview with Mashable, Tamil star Madhavan reminisced about his two-decade marriage with Sarita Birje and how they met when he was tutoring her cousin in public speaking and communication skills.

“I was in Kolhapur. She used to be my student. She had come to Kolhapur to meet her cousin, who was enrolled in his classes. She decided to accompany her cousin to my classes and found my teaching interesting,” Madhavan revealed.

However, the ‘Alaipayuthey’ actor maintained that sparks did not fly at first sight and he did not engage in a romantic relationship with his student. “ Main bol deta hoon, main apni students se ishq mahi ladayi” (I have to make it crystal clear, I did not woo my student), he quipped.

After she completed the course and went on to become an air hostess, she invited him to dinner as a token of appreciation. “We went to a hotel in Kolhapur for dinner, and since then… she has been feeding me,” he revealed.

After spending eight years in a committed relationship, the couple got married in 1999 through a traditional Tamil ceremony. This union marked a turning point in the actor’s life, as the years of struggle and repeated setbacks in the film industry began to shift. Soon after their marriage, he landed his breakthrough role in Mani Ratnam’s Alai Payuthey, released in 2000, which catapulted him to instant fame and changed the course of his acting career.

Sarita has occasionally contributed to the film world as a costume designer. She notably collaborated on Guru En Aalu in 2009, where she worked alongside Erum Ali—the wife of actor Abbas—designing costumes for their respective spouses during the shoot.

The couple has a son named Vedant. Choosing a life of privacy over public exposure, they consciously kept him away from the glare of fame to ensure he developed independently of his father’s celebrity status. Nevertheless, Vedant emerged as an exceptional talent in swimming. In 2022, he won a gold medal at the Danish Open Championship, followed by another top honor at the Junior National Aquatics Championships the same year, establishing himself as a rising star in Indian sports.

On the work front, Madhavan was last seen in the Netflix romantic drama ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’ opposite Fatima Sana Shaikh. He will next feature in two Hindi films—‘De De Pyaar De 2’ and the Ranveer Singh-starrer ‘Dhurandhar.’