Malaika Arora recently opened up about her relationship with her former husband and actor-filmmaker Arbaaz Khan. The couple, who got married in 1998, officially divorced in 2016. They share a 22-year-old son named Arhaan. The actress reflected on her marriage and acknowledged that sometimes things don't work out as planned.
In an interview with Pinkvilla, Malaika said, "I would have loved for my marriage to be forever, but that didn't happen. But that doesn't mean I have lost faith in love, or that doesn't mean what I have done is a huge mistake. It doesn't mean I could have changed the course of my life, no! Things that have been meant to happen, happened."
She added, "There were many situations where one tries to work on things to make sure something good comes out. But I think it came to a point where we decided that ye nahi chalne wala hai (This marriage is not going to work). At that point, I needed to be happy before trying to work anything else out or making anybody else happy; I was not happy."
Malaika also pointed out how her decision to end her marriage was labelled as "selfish" by some people. The model-actress claimed that the divorce had a positive impact on her life and her son's well-being.
"That may be selfish to you. I did what I felt. It is hard for people to understand how you can put yourself first. Yes, I did. That decision today has helped me to be a better person. I have become more at ease with myself, and I'm in a happier space. Not just that, my kid is in a much better and happier space. I don't think he would have wanted to be in a space where things are not conducive," she said.
Co-parenting Arhaan with Arbaaz is not without its challenges. "It has its challenges for sure. It's important to find a balance. I cannot sit down here and say, it's the easiest thing on planet earth. No, it is not. Every day through co-parenting, you have to navigate, but after all these years, we have found a good balance," she added.
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