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Kiran Rao, who recently directed Laapataa Ladies, opened up about her marriage and divorce with Aamir Khan in a recent interview and shared that the two lived together a year before they tied the knot. And even they got married, it was mainly because of parental pressure. Kiran also shared that while marriage is a beautiful institution, one tends to overlook that women often get the shorter end of the stick in these situations as they are expected to maintain the house and relationships with the husband’s family.
Talking to She The People TV’s YouTube channel, Kiran was asked if the institution of marriage was “up for a rethink.” Kiran shared that she always felt that way and added, “Aamir and I lived together for a year before we got married and honestly, we did it more because parents and you know… all the rest of it and even at that time we knew that it’s a great institution if you can function as individuals as well as a couple within that institution.”
She added that a couple’s interpretation of marriage was quite important in maintaining their marriage and said, “I think the way you interpret marriage is important because it was for a particular purpose and this social sanction really maters to a lot of people. It matters to children. There’s a lot of great things that marriage gives you. It gives you a new family, it gives you relationships and it gives you a sense of security and stability.”
Speaking about the imbalance in the relationship in terms of responsibilities, Kiran said, “There’s so much responsibility on the woman to run the house, to keep the family together. In fact, women are expected to keep in touch with the in-laws, women are expected to be friends with your husband’s family. It’s a lot of expectation and to be able to navigate that I think needs discussion.”
Kiran and Aamir announced their divorce in 2021 after 16 years of marriage and when asked if she ever feared divorce, Kiran said that she took her “own sweet time” to come to that decision. “I took my sweet time about it so I did not worry about it. The thing is that Aamir and I were a very strong relationship… continue to be a very strong relationship as two humans. We are very connected to each other and we deeply respect and love each other so that hasn’t changed. So therefore, I was not worried. I knew that I needed my space. I wanted to live independently and have my own… I needed that to be able to grow myself. I felt that it was for my own growth and Aamir acknowledged that as well and I think supported that, so that actually really helped,” she shared.
Kiran said that they did not have any “deep disagreements” so she wasn’t fearful of the idea of divorce. “It took me a while to get everyone accustomed to the idea that this is not some sort of cleaver coming down on a hunk of meat,” she said.
Kiran and Aamir have a son named Azad. Despite their divorce, Kiran is actively a part of the Khan family as she attended the wedding of Aamir’s daughter from his first marriage, Ira Khan, earlier this year.
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