read 4 minutesNew DelhiJune 12, 2026 06:38 PM IST
Unlike other star kids, Vedant Madhavan, son of actor R Madhavan and his wife Sarita Birje, decided to choose swimming as his career. He is now around 20 years old, and is a national level freestyle swimmer, who has won several medals for India. In fact, to support Vedant’s swimming career and training, Madhavan and his family shifted to Dubai during the COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview last year, the actor had given himself 6 out of 10 as a parent. He also spoke openly about his desire to keep Vedanta away from the ‘passing phase’ of recognition.
While speaking to The Hindu, he recalled his wife’s decision to move to Dubai and said, “It was a necessary decision taken at the right time as Vedant was going through his growth phase as a teenager. Not having a pool to swim in would have put an end to his international swimming career. So, Sarita and I were very upset because all the pools, even in Bombay, India, were closed.”
His son Vedant had won a silver medal for India in the Asian Age Group Swimming Championship at that time. The actor shared that moving to another country was important for his swimming career. “At the same time, countries like Germany, France and China had opened their swimming pools, quarantined them and made it a Covid-free zone. They were asking students to stay and train there together for months. Some of them broke world records during the Covid period. This was something that Vedanta could not afford to miss.”
Madhavan further added, “So, when we got to know that Dubai was open for swimming and people were conducting classes under strict supervision. Sarita just got up and left. I followed her, and it was a good decision because Vedant performed excellently after that. The Indian team was also training there.”
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When asked about his rating, he rated himself as a parent. He said, “I think about 6 out of 10. There are certain things that I want to do as a father but I can’t because of my profession. And, my wife is a much more practical parent than me. I tell Vedant what to do philosophically and as a guide. But at the same time, we are both very nervous because she has received such recognition that perhaps it is disproportionate to what she has achieved so far and at such a young age.”
Madhavan further said that both he and his wife Sarita want Vedant to focus on his personal goals instead of getting distracted by the public. “So, I’m not worried about whether he’ll make it big or not, I’m more worried about whether he has the smarts to understand that this recognition will fade away soon. One has to take it as a passing phase and earn all the other accolades that he has in mind and then make a name for himself,” he concluded.
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‘Vedanta is not the best in the country’
Earlier, during Ranveer Allahabadia’s podcast, he had said that Vedant’s medals and achievements are more popular because he is the son of an actor. “Yes, I’m not going to take anything away from what he has achieved. He has done what is required to get a medal. It is not easy being a celebrity’s child. He will attract a lot more attention than most of his friends who would have achieved huge success at the same age as Vedant. So, we try our best to promote other people as well. He is not the best in the country, but he is definitely an actor’s child who has managed to gain recognition at the national level,” he expressed. Did it.
After being in a relationship for about eight years, R Madhavan and Sarita Birje got married in 1999. After 6 years of marriage, their first child, son Vedant, was born in 2005.
Meanwhile, on the work front, Madhavan was last seen in Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar franchise, which grossed over Rs 3000 crore at the global box office. The actor will start shooting for Tanu Weds Manu 3 with Kangana Ranaut this year.