Zeenat Aman on Why She Stayed in Turbulent Marriage to Mazhar Khan

Zeenat Aman reflects on her marriage to Mazhar Khan, why she stayed, and the lessons heartbreak taught her about boundaries and self-respect.

Veteran actress Zeenat Aman has spoken again about her marriage to actor-director Mazhar Khan, explaining why she remained in the relationship despite the difficulties it brought. The couple wed in 1985 and had two sons, Azaan and Zahaan. Aman later separated from Khan, who died in 1998 of kidney failure.

In a recent conversation on the show 'Between Us by Anamika', the 'Qurbaani' star addressed long-running talk about how the marriage began and how she managed it. She pushed back on the simplified narrative that has circulated over the years, saying real relationships rarely match the tidier stories people repeat.

Aman said her decision to marry was rooted in a specific wish. She wanted to have children and saw marriage as the way to start a family, and she made her choice on that basis. She said she has never hidden that motivation.

On why she continued in a union she has called troubled, Aman pointed to the promise she had made, the children they shared, and her belief that circumstances might improve. Over time, she said, she came to a hard conclusion: rescuing another person is impossible if it means dismantling yourself in the process.

She described taking on struggles that were not hers to carry. Aman said she eventually accepted that Khan was the only one who could change his situation. Even so, she declined to speak ill of him, noting that he remains the father of her sons.

What heartbreak taught her

Aman drew a distinction between what achievement gives a person and what pain does. Professional wins, she suggested, build self-assurance, while emotional hurt teaches a person where to draw the line. Affection alone, she added, cannot make up for an absence of respect.

Sometimes walking away is itself a caring act, she said, both toward yourself and toward those who rely on you. She reflected that many women are raised to bend and adjust, and she wished she had grasped sooner that unease is a signal worth reading rather than ignoring.

Advice for young women

Asked what she would tell young women about building a sound partnership, Aman warned against the habit of adapting so completely to a partner that a person loses her own identity. A good relationship, she said, should let someone expand rather than diminish who they are.

She recalled that her own marriage carried pressure to cut herself off from the wider world, which she believes hampers a person's growth as both an individual and an artist. She urged women to weigh how they feel in a partner's company: whether they feel secure, whether they can voice disagreement, and whether they can keep their own goals, friendships and finances.

The most telling question, in her view, is whether a woman likes the person she becomes when she is with that partner.

When the discussion turned to whether she is open to romance now, Aman said she is open to life and already has plenty of love around her, including from her children.

On the professional side, Aman was most recently seen in 'The Royals'. She is set to appear next in 'Bun Maska', which also features Shabana Azmi and Abhay Deol.

Zeenat Aman, Mazhar Khan, Bollywood, Zeenat Aman marriage, Bun Maska, veteran actress, Azaan Zahaan, self-respect boundaries