Malaika Arora and Arbaaz Khan are on cordial terms after their divorce.
Malaika Arora and Bollywood actor Arbaaz were married for 19 years before officially parting ways in May 2017. They are co-parenting son Arhaan Khan.
Malaika Arora and Arbaaz Khan met and fell in love in their early 20s. They tied the knot in December 1998 and welcomed their first child together, Arhaan, in November 2002. However, the couple left their fans shocked when they separated after 19 years of marriage. Malaika had also revealed on her show, Moving In With Malaika, that it was her who proposed to Arbaaz.
Now, in a new interview with Hello magazine, Malaika spoke about co-parenting Arhaan with her ex-husband. “For whatever it’s worth, touch wood, we’ve found a great balance now,” Malaika said. “Perhaps initially it was a little tricky. And rightly so — because that’s just how life is. We both knew that irrespective of everything else and what may have transpired between two adults, it should never reflect on a child — and we have figured out a very congenial way of co-parenting.”
Talking about her parenting strategy, Malaika said, “I’ve said this before; I’d rather have Arhaan be my friend — where he can feel comfortable talking to me about anything. I would hate it if he felt he couldn’t come to me or had to think 10 times before speaking his mind, wondering whether his mum is going to completely flip out! I like the fact that he can come tell me anything if he wants — and that goes for my nieces and nephews too. I love feeling cool enough to hear them out, give them a point of view and yet, let them feel they’re making their own decisions without forcing my ideas or thoughts onto them.”
A few years back, Malaika had talked about how her family did not want her to go ahead with the divorce. “I think, sab ki pehli yehi raai hai ki mat karna. Koi aapko nahi kahega ki, ‘Haan, haan, please jayiye, kariye.’ That’s the first thing, ki aap soch samajh ke yeh decision lena. I went through the same thing,” India Today quoted Malaika as saying on Kareena Kapoor Khan’s radio show.
Arbaaz Khan is now married to makeup artist Sshura Khan. They tied the knot in December 2023 at Arbaaz’s sister Arpita’s home in Mumbai. Malaika, on the other hand, is dating actor Arjun Kapoor. However, rumours are rife that all is not well between Malaika and Arjun.
