Mumbai, Nov 28 (IANS): Zarina Wahab recently recalled how people doubted the longevity of her marriage to actor Aditya Pancholi, with many predicting it wouldn't last more than five months.
In a recent interview, the veteran actress opened up about her interfaith marriage of 36 years with Aditya and mentioned that despite the early skepticism, their relationship stood the test of time. Zarina also addressed whether their different religious backgrounds ever posed challenges in their marriage, revealing that although Aditya didn't convert to Islam, he changed his name for the nikaah ceremony.
Asked if their diverse religious backgrounds ever created obstacles in their relationship, Wahab told Lehren Retro, “When I got married to him, everyone said, ‘He’s so handsome, he’s so young, this won’t last more than five months’. But now it has been 36 years. Look around, there are so many temples in my house. I do the namaaz. We don’t distinguish on the basis of religion in our house, there are no differences, we have everything we need… Even my in-laws are very nice. There were no hurdles.”
Zarina also explained that they had a nikaah ceremony, and when asked if Aditya converted to Islam, she clarified, “He didn’t convert, but as is customary with Muslims, he had to change his name, so he did that.”
In the same interview, Wahab also spoke about Aditya’s affairs and revealed that she never confronted him about them. She admitted that she was aware of his affairs but chose to ignore them. What mattered most to her was how he treated her when they were at home.
"I was always aware of Nirmal (Aditya’s real name)’s affairs, but I never questioned him. I only cared about how he treated me when he was home. I ignored asking him questions because it would have made him fearless. I was completely prepared for him to have affairs,” Zarina explained.
For the unversed, Zarina Wahab and Aditya Pancholi met on the sets of their film “Kalank Ka Tika," and despite the actress being six years older and facing opposition from her mother, the couple followed their hearts and got married in 1986.