The fact that Bollywood actors Malaika Arora and Arbaaz Khan called it quits after being in a marriage for 18 long years is well-established. They tied the knot in 1998 and divorced in 2007.
But little do we know what forced the couple to separate despite having a son named Arhaan Khan. Recently, during her recently released reality show, the dancer and model bared it all and spoke about her relationship with her ex-husband Arbaaz Khan.
During her conversation with Indian film director Farah Khan, the actress said that she married Arbaaz only because she wanted to get out of her house, reported the Times Of India.
“I am the one who proposed to Arbaaz. Nobody knows. It was not Arbaaz who proposed to me. It was the other way around. I actually said, ‘I want to get married. Are you ready?’ Very sweetly he (Arbaaz) actually turned around and told me, ‘You pick the day and the place.’”
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Talking of how things started getting bitter between them, the dancer who is the face of several item numbers, divulged, “We drifted. I was very young. I also changed. I wanted different things in life. Somewhere I felt that was missing in my space and I needed to move on.”
“I felt that the only way I could do that was if I could actually let go of certain ties. And I think actually today we are better people.”
She added that they still have love and respect for each other. However, back then, they had become very irritable.
“We love and respect each other for the people that we are. We have a child together. So that is something that will never ever change. But I feel we are far better people. Then, I think we were very irritable. Very irritable people. We became angry, negative people.”
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Adding to this, Farah Khan recalled that after they did the movie ‘Dabang’ together, even she could see the difference. Testifying her statement, an overwhelmed and teary Malaika shared, “I also remember very few people actually said that to me.”
“You, Karan (Johar), very few people actually said that to me. They actually turned around and said, ‘You know what? Irrespective. We love you. Whatever the situation may be, whatever it may be, we love you’. I will never forget that. I will always. I feel happy.”
But despite whatever the equation is, she would never forget the time when Arbaaz stood by her when she met with an accident.
“But when I was wheeled out one of the first faces that I saw was actually Arbaaz, at that moment. And he kept asking me, ‘Can you see? How many numbers? How many fingers?’ And I was like ‘why is he doing this?'”
“It was very strange. For a second, I was like okay ‘have I gone back in time?’ Something that really sticks out is in difficult times, you know that irrespective whatever it may be, past, present, future, jo bhi ho (whatever happened), the way he was there.”
Even though the couple co-parents their son, both Arbaaz and Malaika have romantically moved on. When Farah asked her if she sees ‘more kids’ and getting ‘married again’ in the future, Malaika reportedly responded:
“I don’t know what the future holds for me. These are things, which of course, you discuss with your partner. Of course, you discuss these things.”
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Speaking more about her current relationship with actor Arjun Kapoor, Malaika shared, “I don’t feel insecure. Just because I have been through a divorce or something, I am not bitter.”
“I have a lot to feel and I think I have a better person in a relationship. Whatever choices or decisions I made, I made purely and at the end of the day, this man in my life makes me happy. Whatever else the world says, whatever they feel, I don’t care.”
I like the fact that Malaika is not letting her past experiences affect her future. More power to you. To each his own!