Bollywood stars Malaika Arora and Arbaaz Khan shocked their fans when they announced the decision to end their 19-year-old marriage. The duo officially got divorced on May 11, 2017 but remained tight-lipped about their separation.
Now, Malaika Arora arrived on a radio chat show with Kareena Kapoor Khan and opened up on her divorce with Arbaaz Khan and how difficult the decision was for her till the last moment.
“We did think about a lot of things and weighed every single pro and con. And then we decided, it’s better off that we move our separate ways because we’d just be better people. Because we were two people in a situation making each other extremely unhappy which was impacting everybody else’s life around us,” Malaika was quoted as saying on the show.
She went on to add how her family and friends supported her, “Everybody said, 'If this is the decision that you're making, then we're really proud of you and in our eyes, you are a strong woman.' So for me, that kind of gave me that extra strength that I needed. If you are in an unhappy marriage and that’s what you decide to do you should do it with a lot of dignity, self-respect. Don’t let anybody tell you that you are any less of a woman.”
When Kareena asked her if divorced women and men are treated differently, Malaika agreed and said, “It’s the biggest disparity there is among all the other disparities there which women have to face. And I'm not going to sit down and do man-bashing but yes, it is very easy for a man to move on in his life. It’s never easy. As humans, we start to blame other people. But for me, happiness is the most important.”
Malaika and Arbaaz have a 16-year-old son, Arhaan.
Interestingly, Malaika revealed that she was open about dating post divorce and even gave sound advice to young girls out there. She said, “It’s not impossible."
"Swipe left, right, whatever it might be! Have fun! For the first time in your life, you will also discover a kind of freedom. To be in a bed all alone is also a new feeling!”
The actress had been allegedly dating younger actor Arjun Kapoor. They were seen together on many occasions.