Malaika Arora says decision to separate from Arbaaz Khan felt like the ‘whole world is crashing on your head’

Malaika shared that she knew that she had to be responsible as her son Arhaan was growing up and he needed her more than ever. “I have to be that right example, I have to be able to steer him in the right direction and at the same time make his own mistakes. So yes, I did feel scared, vulnerable, frightened, all of those emotions but I also felt like I had to take one day at a time. I couldn’t take giant leaps because that was just not possible. I had to see how every day would unfold for me,” she said.

Malaika stressed that she doesn’t come from a family with a big business and doesn’t have ‘old money’ so she has to strive every day like millions of other women and keep working hard. She added that she knew that the path of being a single mother meant that she had to be a working single mother. “At that point, the only thing I was thinking about is, if I am a single mother, I need to be a working single mother. For me that was more important, I need to do this so that I am able to not just take care of my son, take care of myself. If I can’t take care of myself, I won’t be able to take care of him so for me, that was more important,” she added.

“At the end of the day, everything I do, everything I am is self-made, self-taught. I strive every single day like you, like millions of other women out there,” she concluded.

Malaika and Arbaaz separated in 2017 and co-parent their son Arhaan Khan. For the last few years, Malaika has been in a relationship with Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor.