When Zeenat Aman said she married Mazhar Khan because she ‘really’ wanted to have kids: ‘Biological clock was ticking’

Veteran actor Zeenat Aman, in an interview with Simi Garewal in 1999, had opened up about her marriage with actor Mazhar Khan and how she wanted to embrace motherhood at the peak of her career. 

On her 70th birthday on Friday, here’s a flashback of what Zeenat Aman had told Simi Garewal in the interview. When asked about the timing of her marriage, she said: “At that time, I was ready for motherhood, more than anything. I felt my biological clock was ticking and I really wanted to have children. And truly that was the chief reason why I got married because I genuinely believe that the only reason to be married is to have a family. And I felt ready for that at that time. And so I did.”

Zeenat Aman married Mazhar Khan in 1985 and they had two sons, Azaan Khan and Zahaan Khan. Zeenat was married to Mazhar Khan till his death in 1998. 

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When asked about the reason behind marrying Mazhar Khan, who was less successful as an actor while Zeenat was a star in the 80s, she said: “Difficult to say now. I think in our lives sometimes, you may be ready for certain things. You may be ready for certain changes. And then the person who happens to be there at that point of time in your life, you are trying to fit into what your needs are. I think that’s the best way I can explain it at this point.”

Talking about her ‘compatibility’ with Mazhar Khan, Zeenat said: “Oh dear, difficult to say now.”

Zeenat Aman also revisited the time when she was expected to spend time with her kids instead of focusing on her career: “At that time, I wasn’t into analysis when I was in the marriage. But when I started looking back, I realised that yes… there were never things that were said consciously but there was always an element of wanting to disconnect the person from the outside world. To try and keep me home with the kids, you know, more than encouraging me to go out and be my own person. I think in a partnership, people have to nurture and cherish each other and allow each other to grow and be what they want to be but I never got that. I was never allowed to grow and to fulfil my destiny.”

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Before marrying Mazhar Khan, Zeenat Aman was briefly married to Sanjay Khan. In his biography, actor Dev Anand had written he had romantic feelings for Zeenat Aman after they co-starred in the 1971 movie Hare Rama Hare Krishna.