Malaika Arora says early marriage, motherhood didn’t affect her career: ‘Was an example for other women’

Malaika Arora has said marrying at the age of around 25, and having a child, never came in the way of her professional life. “Somewhere, it was an example of sorts for lot of other women,” she said.

Malaika, 48, has 19-year-old son Arhaan Khan with her ex-husband Arbaaz Khan. Malaika and Arbaaz had tied the knot in 1998 and got divorced in 2017. 

Malaika told Namrata Zakaria on her podcast, Tell Me How You Did It, “It never was a hindrance. I’m proof of that. Not in any way has it come in the choices that I’ve made. Being married, or when I was married, or when I decided to have a child, I don’t think any of it had any bearing on my professional life. People around me had a lot more to say, but it didn’t have any bearing on my professional life.”

“Back then, there were very few of us who were married with kids. Very, very few. Nobody would take that plunge. Now, of course, it has changed; women are married, with kids, working through (pregnancies), and after. The whole concept has changed. But back then, it was far more different. I said, ‘I’m not going to let it bother me, I’m not going to let it stop what I want to do’. I worked through my pregnancy. I was on MTV, I did shows, I did all of it. I think I travelled the most when I was pregnant,” she added. 

“I always have this glamorous approach or being a certain way, it has worked in my favour,” she said, adding how she made marriage and working through pregnancy look fun, easy and doable. “I don’t think a lot of people at that point could have made that switch, I took it head on and I am really happy I did,” she said.  

Also read: Check out Malaika Arora’s walk-in closet which is ‘as big as an average person’s bedroom’

Malaika is currently making the most of her time with Arhaan, who has returned home on a break. He is pursuing higher studies abroad. Malaika had earlier penned a note at the time of seeing him off. She had written, “As we both embark on a new and uncharted journey, one filled with nervousness, fear, excitement, distance, new experiences… all I know is that I am super duper proud of you my Arhaan. This is your time to spread your wings and fly and soar and live all your dreams… miss you already.”