Priyamani's marriage to Mustafa Raj 'not legal' his first wife claims

Actress Priyamani's marriage to Mustafa Raj has been challenged by his first wife Ayesha, claiming that she is still married to him. Mustafa and Ayesha separated in 2013, and he married Priyamani in 2017.Ayesha in a conversation with ETimes, said, “Mustafa is still married to me. Mustafa and Priyamani’s marriage is invalid. We have not even filed for divorce and while marrying Priyamani, he declared in the court that he was a bachelor.” Mustafa Raj and Ayesha have two children. He said that this is an attempt at extortion, as he is providing child support. He told a leading daily, "The charges against me are false. I am paying the children's maintenance to Ayesha regularly. She is simply trying to extort money from me." He asked why she had waited this long to press the charges, which also include domestic violence.

Priyamani, who is a cousin of actor Vidya Balan, rose to prominence with Amazon Prime Video's The Family Man, with Manoj Bajpayee. Earlier, she had appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam films. She is the recipient of a National Film Award. In a recent interview, she had called Mustafa Raj her lucky charm. "Personally for me, I have become busier after marriage. So I always say I think Mustafa has been my lucky charm. I thank god that I go a wonderful partner like that who supports me in my work," she told Bollywood Bubble. Priyamani and Mustafa Raj's first meeting had happened during an IPL (Indian Premier League) match in Bangalore. Priyamani had gone there to attend the match of her team, as she was the brand ambassador of one of the cricket teams in the tournament. On the flip side of the story, Mustafa Raj was the event manager of the tournament. The duo had met each other, but it was more of an official meeting. However, it was their meeting in Kerala, where Priyamani and Mustafa Raj had met each other in more of a casual manner. According to multiple media reports, the two were in close contact and had gradually become good friends. Priyamani and Mustafa had continued their friendship for the next four years, and in-between those years, the two had also started developing likeness for one another. After their engagement in 2016, Priyamani and Mustafa Raj got married on August 23, 2017, in an intimate wedding in Bengaluru.