VIJAY-SANGEETHA 21ST WEDDING ANNIVERSARY: HOW A FAN FROM LONDON ENDED UP MARRYING THE THEN “NALAIYA” SUPERSTAR!

SANGEETHA MET VIJAY ON POOVE UNAKAGA SETS

The story goes that Sangeetha Sornalingam, a graduate based in London and the daughter of a Lankan-based businessman, met him on the sets of Poove Unakaga in 1995 and said that she found his acting to be endearing. Sangeetha, at that time, was used to visiting Chennai once a year from London and is a crazy fan of actor Vijay.

SANGEETHA MET VIJAY'S PARENTS

During another visit the following year, she asked if she could visit Thalapathy’s parents and he agreed with no complaints. Sangeetha had visited his parents sometime later during the same visit to Chennai and left for London. Their bonding had increased as she made regular visits to Vijay's parents during all her Chennai trips after that.

SAC ASKED SANGEETHA IF SHE WOULD BE INTERESTED IN MARRYING VIJAY

Vijay’s parents liked what they saw of the girl and subsequently asked if she would be interested in wedding him in one of her visits in 1997-98. The pretty lady too replied in the affirmative. When Thalapathy was asked of the same, he too acquiesced with the wish of his parents. The point to be noted keenly here is, this is not a love story as you see in many reports online and SAC was specific in clarifying this point, as even Vijay was unaware of his parents asking for Sangeetha’s hand in marriage to him.

VIJAY AND SANGEETHA GOT ENGAGED IN LONDON

Their engagement happened in London in the presence of both sets of parents towards the end of 1998 and there was a gap of nine months between their engagement and subsequent marriage during which time both spoke a lot to each other and understood the other person well. Though, it didn’t start as a love marriage, it’s evident that the base for love to be present forever in their lives was sown during the courtship.

THE BIG FAT WEDDING SAW 60,000 FANS ATTEND THE EVENT

The big fat wedding was held at Rani Meyyammai Hall on August 25, 1999. The marriage took place over two days with the first day being reserved for the film fraternity while the second day saw Vijay and Sangeetha exchanging garlands in front of about 60,000 fans who came from many parts of Tamil Nadu. All the fans were coordinated well with top-notch hospitality and feasted on hot biryani before they left the hall.

VIJAY AND SANGEETHA EXCHANGED GARLANDS BEFORE THE EXUBERANT FANS

This particular event happened at Nehru Indoor Stadium and the fan meet was divided into 4 different sessions with 15,000 fans gracing each session. There was also a music director, one each for the four sessions, to engage the fans. A ramp was built in the centre where for each set of the new audience, Vijay and Sangeetha walked the full ramp and exchanged garlands - about four times.

THE GESTURE MADE VIJAY MORE CLOSER TO HIS FANS

This event was instrumental in making Vijay even a bigger hit with his fan-base, which continues to this day.

THE COUPLE IS DOTING PARENTS TO TWO WONDERFUL CHILDREN

The couple has been going strong for over 20 years now and give us major relationship goals and are proud parents of son Sanjay and daughter Divya Sashaa.