Veteran actress Zeenat Aman is a bonafide internet star. The Hare Ram Hare Krishna actress often shares glimpses of her life on Instagram, along with compelling behind-the-scenes stories. While the social networking site gave her a platform to share interesting anecdotes, the star has been vocal about her life since much before the internet era. Zeenat Aman once appeared in an interview with Simi Garewal and shared the tough life she faced during her marriage to Mazhar Khan and her struggles after walking out of it.
Speaking of how her marriage went sour and what made her decide to end it, she said, “What had happened with Mazhar is that he had stopped helping himself. Whatever he was doing, he was inflicting further damage on himself and I couldn’t stay there and watch him do that.”
She further added, “What really happened is that he became addicted to prescription drugs, painkillers. He was at a point taking seven a day and the doctor had said that there was a good possibility that his kidneys would pack up. The children would request him, I would request him, we would tell him don’t do it but he didn’t.”
“Eventually, his kidneys did pack up and this was after I had opted out. It took me a very long time to do that because when I left, I still cared. I had fought so many of his battles so hard for him. It was very difficult for me to leave even though it was a question of self-preservation,” she said looking back on the ordeal she had to go through.
But the most difficult part of leaving the marriage was her life post that. She revealed that she was punished for what she did. Not only did her ex in-laws not let her inherit any property of her husband after his death, but they also turned her kids against her. “Every penny he possibly had has been taken by his mother and sister. There is nothing,” she said. The Don actress also disclosed that she was not allowed to pay her pay her last respects to her husband after he died.
Zeenat Aman first appeared in movies with the Indo-Filipino drama The Evil Within in 1970. Then came her breakthrough role in 1971 when Dev Anand cast her in Hare Rama Hare Krishna. Since then, she was a part of Bollywood classics such as Yaadon Ki Baraat, Dostana, Qurbani, Roti Kapada Aur Makaan, Hum Kisise Kum Naheen, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, among many others.