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What is the reason behind Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao's divorce?
15-year itch or Fatima Sana Shaikh... What is the reason behind Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao’s divorce?
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Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao have announced their impending divorce officially. Rumours are rife that it is because of Aamir’s closeness to starlet Fatima Shaikh. Sumita Chakraborty probes to find out whether the 15 year jinx got hold of Aamir again or was it Fatima Sana Shaikh who broke Aamir and Kiran’s marriage?
They call it Aamir Khan’s 15 year itch. His first marriage with Reena (Dutta) lasted for 15 years and this time ‘round, at the onset of the 15th year of their marriage, Aamir and second wife Kiran Rao have called it quits even though they claim everything was done very khushi khushi and they are cordial still. In fact, the duo (Aamir and Kiran) in a joint statement averred, “In these 15 beautiful years together we have shared a lifetime of experiences, joy and laughter, and our relationship has only grown in trust, respect and love. Now we would like to begin a new chapter in our lives — no longer as husband and wife, but as co-parents and family for each other.” Furthermore stating, “We began a planned separation some time ago, and now feel comfortable to formalise this arrangement, of living separately yet sharing our lives the way an extended family does. We remain devoted parents to our son Azad, who we will nurture and raise together.”
The statement said that both Aamir and Kiran would continue to collaborate on films, Paani foundation and other projects and requested their ‘well-wishers for good wishes and blessings’ adding that they should see ‘this divorce not as an end, but as the start of a new journey.‘ They also released a video on social video looking rather cordial with each other though Kiran Rao’s reactions looked a trifle forced. But of course, she isn’t an actor. Aamir however looked completely at ease talking about Kiran and his bond being eternal and even grabbing Kiran’s hand to make his point. So what is with Aamir Khan and his 15 year itch? Memes floating on the social media claimed he had divorced his first wife Reena with whom he had a love marriage – in fact they had rather romantically eloped to get married - on the 15th year of their marriage. Pap’s who probed the reason for Reena and Aamir’s divorce insisted that perhaps it was because Reena who wasn’t from the industry couldn’t cope with the alleged rumours of Aamir’s linkups with his heroines which unfortunately were the pitfall of Aamir’s profession. However, Reena and Aamir seemed to live in harmony even after the divorce – visiting each other, son Junaid and daughter Ira often meeting Aamir etc. So everything seemed fine on the Aamir Khan front who for a brief time enjoyed his bachelorhood. At that point, there were many rumours linking him with actors, news anchors and even a British journalist and author Jessica Hines who the pap’s insisted was in a live-in relationship with Aamir during the making of Ghulam. Later, a pregnant Jessica Hines returned to Britain to have a son who she named Jaan. Though there were rumours that Jaan was supposedly Aamir’s son, Jessica never confirmed that and Aamir never acknowledged Jaan who is a model now as his son. So that was all water under the bridge and nothing more was said about this issue. But then he met the be-spectacled geeky looking intellect Kiran Rao who was an assistant director on the sets of Lagaan. Their animated intellectual discussions on cinema excited the self-professed cerebal Aamir Khan who found her very different from the actors he moved around with. Love struck an intellectual chord and Kiran and Aamir got married on December 28, 2005. Things seemed perfect in the beginning – both Kiran and Aamir seemed to have similar tastes and aspirations. Then they had a baby through surrogacy and named him Azad. Everything seemed hunky dory in the Khan paradise for almost a decade. Or was it? And then the jinx hit Aamir’s second marriage too. Suddenly whispers were rife about Kiran and Aamir’s relationship being on the brink of a break up. Insiders claimed that all was not well in the Rao-Khan family front. …
That there were frequent disagreements and skirmishes and it all allegedly revolved around a certain sensuous Ms Fatima Sana Shaikh. Memes doing the rounds after Aamir and Kiran announced their divorce - had a picture of first wife Reena captioned Badi Ma followed by Kiran Rao with the caption Choti Ma… subsequently followed by a picture of Fatima with the caption ‘Fatima’ thereby pointing out a link-up between Aamir and Fatima. Fatima if you recall had played Aamir’s daughter in the blockbuster Dangal and from that time, they say the superstar has had a soft corner for this sexy actress so much so that Sanya Malhotra, the other actor who played Aamir’s second daughter started feeling left out. And when Fatima was signed for Thugs of Hindostan supposedly on Aamir Khan’s behest, the whispers accelerated rather vociferously. The shoot was in Malta and crew members spoke about how Aamir seemed to spend more time with Fatima than anybody else. But to be fair to Aamir and Fatima, they had acted in Dangal together so obviously the camaraderie would be there. Perhaps he just wanted to make this young actor feel comfortable. And comfortable she obviously was, as crew members insisted that Fatima allegedly was lording it up on the sets so much so that Katrina Kaif who was actually the main lead of the film started feeling a little insecure.
Memes floating on the social media claimed he had divorced his first wife Reena with whom he had a love marriage – in fact they had rather romantically eloped to get married - on the 15th year of their marriage.
When Fatima was signed for Thugs of Hindostan supposedly on Aamir Khan’s behest, the whispers accelerated rather vociferously.
Gossipmongers also claimed that supposedly after hearing all those insidious whispers wife Kiran Rao too flew to Malta to be with Aamir. An insider claimed there were a lot of heated arguments between Aamir and Kiran supposedly about Fatima. Not that it bothered Fatima too much, said the insider, for she allegedly continued to hover around Aamir. Rumours continued to fuel this link-up. But Aamir and Fatima seemed to be comfortable in their own bubble and ignored any of the backlash. They were instead seen together – whether watching a film in Jaipur or attending a party with Kiran in tow. So were any of these rumours true?
But both Kiran and Aamir chose not to air any of this in public and so were mum about it. But now with their divorce confirmed, the grapevine insisted that Aamir Khan asked for the divorce from Kiran so that he could get married to Fatima Sana Shaikh. But when Fatima was asked about this in an interview to a glossy magazine, she poohpoohed all the allegations and instead said, “Earlier, I used to get affected. I’d feel bad. …Because I’ve never dealt with anything of this sort at such a big level. A bunch of strangers, whom I’ve never met, are writing things about me. They don’t even know if there’s any truth to it. People reading it assume that I’m ‘not a good person’.” She went on to say, “You feel like telling that person, ‘Ask me, I’ll give you an answer’. It disturbs me because I don’t want people to assume wrong things. Agar main asliyat mein haraami hoon toh people should see my asliyat (If I am a bad person in realitythen people should see my reality). But If I’m not, I don’t want them to see me as a bad person. But I’ve learnt to ignore it. Yet, there are some days when I do get affected.” In another interview, Fatima spoke out about the rumours of a link-up with Aamir, “If someone accuses you of something, the first instinct is to come out and tell, ‘Listen, why do you think it is like this?’ If you are an aggressive person, you will attack. If you are a submissive person, even then you will talk about it.” Very cleverly worded…. Fatima very clearly evaded answering a straight forward question about her link-up with Aamir. But now after the cordial divorce with Kiran, 56-year-old Aamir Khan is free to live his life his way and whether he gets married to the 28-year-old Fatima is to be seen. Rumours however claim that Aamir is besotted by Fatima and in this relationship; the sexy lady has an upper hand. However, neither have confirmed this so for now we just have to wait ‘n’ watch. Will Fatima be wife no 3 or were all those rumours about their link-up a complete hogwash? Watch this space to know more...
Will Fatima be wife no 3 or were all those rumours about their link-up a complete hogwash?
