Vandana Shah
(Vandana Shah) is an Indian family and matrimonial lawyer, author, and social entrepreneur. She heads the law firm Vandana Shah and Associates and practices at the family court in Mumbai.[1] She gained wide media attention in November 2024 as the lawyer representing composer A. R. Rahman and his wife, Saira Banu, issuing the public statement announcing the end of their 29-year marriage on their behalf.[2][3][4]
She founded a support group 360 Degrees Back to Life, a support group for people going through divorce.[1]
Shah is the author of Ex Files: The Story of My Divorce (Penguin Random House, 2014), published under Shobhaa De's imprint,[5] and an earlier book, 360 Degrees Back to Life: A Litigant's Humorous Perspective on Divorce.[6] She has also written columns for various publications.[1]
Early Life
Shah was born in Ambala, Haryana, into a family with a background in the armed forces; her father was a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force.[1][6] She moved to Mumbai as a teenager and studied at St. Xavier's College.[1] Before training in law, she worked variously as a model, a disc jockey, and in advertising.[1]
Personal Life
Shah was divorced, and the entire process took over ten years to conclude.[6]
Career
Shah trained as a lawyer and became involved with the Mumbai family court system in 2001, initially as a litigant and later as a counsellor, before qualifying and beginning to practise law herself.[7] She founded 360 Degrees Back to Life, a support group for people going through divorce.[1] She now heads her own firm, Vandana Shah and Associates, and practices at the family court in Mumbai.[1]
In 2017, Shah launched DivorceKart, described as India's first mobile application dedicated to answering legal questions about divorce, offering free round-the-clock access to legal guidance. The app was launched at an event attended by actor Ranvir Shorey and filmmaker Aruna Raje Patil.[8] Her work has also been the subject of a BBC documentary, Invisible Women of India.[7]
In November 2024, she gained wide media attention as the lawyer representing composer A. R. Rahman and his wife, Saira Banu, in their separation and subsequently gave interviews discussing the case and divorce trends among Indian celebrities more broadly.[2][3][4][9]
Publications
Shah is the author of Ex Files: The Story of My Divorce (Penguin Random House, 2014), published under Shobhaa De's imprint.[5] She is also the author of an earlier book, 360 Degrees Back to Life: A Litigant's Humorous Perspective on Divorce.[6]
Shah writes a monthly column for the Oman-based magazine Black and White and edits Ex-Files, a divorce news magazine.[1] She has been a contributing columnist, writing on law and women's empowerment, for Huffington Post India, Huffington Post America, Savvy, Dainik Bhaskar, and Thrive Global, and has said she contributes around 20 articles a month across these platforms under her own byline.[10][11]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 "Shah Vandana". Penguin Random House India. Retrieved 2026-08-31.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "'Tensions and difficulties...': AR Rahman and wife Saira Banu separate after nearly three decades of marriage - BusinessToday". Business Today. 2024-11-20. Retrieved 2026-08-31.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "'Tensions and difficulties...': AR Rahman and wife Saira Banu separate after nearly three decades of marriage - BusinessToday". Business Today. 2024-11-20. Retrieved 2026-08-31.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Bollywood music composer A.R. Rahman and wife Saira Banu's 29-year marriage ends amid 'insurmountable gap'". Malay Mail. 2024-11-20. Retrieved 2026-08-31.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "The Ex Files". Penguin Random House India. Retrieved 2026-08-31.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Vandana Shah". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2026-08-31.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Not divorced from reality". The Tribune. 2019-03-10. Retrieved 2026-08-31.
- ↑ Sherpa, Samden (2017-11-25). "Vandana Shah announces the launch of DivorceKart: India's first app for legal queries around divorce". https://www.gizbot.com/. Retrieved 2026-08-31. External link in
|website=(help) - ↑ "A.R. Rahman and Saira Banu's lawyer Vandana Shah reveals the reasons for divorce in Bollywood". @theweek. Retrieved 2026-08-31.
- ↑ "Vandana Shah | HuffPost". www.huffpost.com. Retrieved 2026-08-31.
- ↑ Shah, Vandana (2017-01-20). "Triple Talaq-Instantaneous Divorce". Thrive Global. Retrieved 2026-08-31.
External links
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