"Why is our marriage a matter of front-page interest?" - Arbaaz Khan

Arbaaz and Malaika Khan's rather ugly run-in with the monstrous after-shocks of over-exuberant product-marketing seems to have left the Khan family deeply affected. Known to be deeply conservative the Khans are extremely upset with Malaika and Arbaaz. "They feel it was wrong that we should've let them read about our little campaign instead of taking the family into confidence. In fact my parents clearly said, 'If we knew you two were going to be part of such a gimmick we'd have never allowed you to.' I never thought I'd ever get into something that would turn so ugly," sighs Arbaaz.

So far the Khan family has one child as a favourite child of controversy. "Salman doesn't care what is written about him. I'm not that kind of a guy. I'm very particular about the way I conduct myself especially about my marriage. Suddenly, I find myself fighting a lonely battle to redeem my wife and my image."

To compound the Khans' problems the multi-national company which conceived and implemented the queer campaign has completely washed its hands off the matter….a direct echo of what happened to the Roshans when the cell-phone company which goofed up in its communication system with the copyright ownership issue of Ram Sampat's tune decided to steer clear of their celebrity clients' troubles. "It's not just my name that's being affected, it's my wife's name too, and that I won't tolerate," Arbaaz says angrily days after the media reacted violently to the couple's gimmicky marital-discord campaign that hit the headlines last week.

Says Arbaaz, "My wife and I have been called publicity hounds and our little child has also been dragged into the matter when all we did was to go along with the multi-national's campaign. Is compliance a crime? Then we're guilty. And I apologize. I'm not the kind of a guy who gets defensive after doing something goes wrong. And this situation has definitely gone wrong."

What Arbaaz cannot fathom is why a section of the media chose to highlight the false story on a marriage breakup. "Neither Malaika nor I ever said we were splitting. It was the cosmetic company which put out a yarn about me re-marrying. From there some media persons let their imagination run riot. Since when is our marriage a matter of front-page interest?"

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We don't regret marriage prank: Malaika and Arbaaz

Malaika Arora on the 'joke' on her marriage.

The shocking story on the end of one of filmdom's most durable marriages rocked Mumbai yesterday. Turned out, it was part of a well-planned campaign to promote a line of cosmetics.

A shocking and unethical illustration of how the media is used and manipulated to generate curiosity and interest in consumer products. Malaika Arora who was part of the campaign seemed pretty uncomfortable with the situation

What is this about your marriage in serious trouble?
Nothing. All is well in paradise. No serious or even non-serious trouble in our marriage

Let me get it straight. You did this as part of advertisement campaign?
It is part of an ad campaign for a product that Arbaaz and I are launching. Rather re-launching. See, the concept of the ad is that he comes towards the end and re-proposes to me.

What was told to the press was that Arbaaz was getting remarried. I don't know how when where they came up with the rest (of the story).

But Malaika, if you say your husband is getting re-married it wouldn't be wrong to presume that the earlier marriage is over, no?
That's what everyone has presumed.

Are you saying this was done with your approval?
Approval…well…the whole concept was of Arbaaz is getting re-married. I never thought that one concept would acquire these proportions.

Why don't you please speak to Arbaaz? He had decided to maintain a dignified silence on the campaign. But of course silence is interpreted as tacit approval.

I feel as a happily married woman it was wrong to project your marriage as jeopardized for the sake of an ad campaign
I completely agree with you. We've worked very hard to make our marriage a success. To us it's the most sacred thing in our lives. That's why we were very clear that the ad campaign shouldn't look tacky.

Of course the PR people have their way of doing things. And we definitely expressed our reservations to them.

They still went ahead with it?
Well I guess they had their PR in place, right?

Right. They got our attention. But I don't think it was right.
Speak to Arbaaz. A friend of mine sent a message saying, we always look up to your marriage as a role-model for the institution. I was inundated with calls and messages.

I guess the campaign worked, I am happy for them.

Arbaaz Khan
Arbaaz is neither too happy nor defensive about the campaign that turned his marriage to Malaika into a swift soap-opera.

"Malaika and I were asked to be part of this campaign which ran like a husband-wife story….marriage, stress separation and then finally the grand reunion…We made it clear we'd not be actively speaking to the press about the campaign.

We though the campaign would come and go and before friends and well-wishers started taking it seriously. But in no time a section of the media jumped on to the campaign line 'Arbaaz To Re-marry' and made up their own screenplay about my marriage with Malaika.

By God's grace we're very happy together and we don't need to resort to gimmicks to stay in the news. Do I regret the campaign? Not really.

We're professionals and today marketing a product entails all sorts of machinations that we as the endorsers don't have to agree with.

We had so many anxious friends contacting us to know what was going on.Honestly Malaika and I never thought it'd blow up into this unsavoury story.

We thought the campaign would be over before anyone has a chance to take it seriously.

And we never thought mediapersons would latch on to the remarriage strategy in the campaign and create a whole story about our breakup."

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Split, actually or just a gimmick?

Here's another quake hitting bold and beautiful Bollywood. The made for each other couple, Arbaaz Khan and Malaika Arora Khan, have separated and will be seeking talaq, going by the indisputable indications.

This comes soon after the stunning, overnight as it were, split between Shahid Kapur and Kareena Kapoor, looked upon as the head-over-heels in love pair for quite some time.

While both Shahid and Kareena kept their counsel, Shahid rose in the esteem of his fans for playing the dignified lover being dumped after all those wild quotable quotes about their everlasting love and their tongue wrestling in a public place MMS.

Kareena, who is now looked upon as the coolest babe on Saif Ali Khan's arm (and in his arms), fell for Saif during the outdoors of Tashan and the news plopped out just prior to the release of Shahid-Kareena's only hit, Jab We Met.

Saif, just out of his torrid relationship with Italian bomb, Rozza Catalano, has gone through the pleasant agony of tatooing Kareena's name on his arm, and Kareena is in the euphoric quoteable quote mode again as if nothing or Shahid ever happened only the other day!

Of course, true to showbiz type, both Saif and Kareena are also emphasising to everyone who cares to listen, that their career is on the upswing at the moment, and certainly they will marry, but don't see that happening before another five years.

The emergency exit for another couple of Shahids and Rozzas to happen in the next five years.

On the surface, the Arbaaz Khan-Malaika Arora affair looked a lot more cool and dignified, and the eyebrow raising was because people couldn't believe that what they were seeing was worth believing. They seemed to be too genuinely happily married to be true. And they lasted all of 10 years and a five-year-old son, Arhaan.

After his much touted acting debut in Daraar, where he played a debonair sunglassed villain, Arbaaz's career never took off, despite the family film where all three Khan brothers played stellar roles, Hello Brother.

He managed two-and-a-half roles in the years since, but all of them rather insignificant. The last we saw him in was Apoorva Lakhia's Shootout At Lokhandwala, starring Sanjay Dutt, in which he played a dashing cop, buit the film was not a commercial success either.

Malaika, on the other hand, was a high-profile model and hit the Bollywood jackpot by swivelling her hips with Shah Rukh Khan atop a moving train.

Dil Se's Chhaiyaan Chhaiyaan made her a memorable item girl, and she made her sexual presence felt as a 'love and agony aunt' anchor on television and make cleaage and leg showing appearances at glitzy parties and inaugurals. Kaante's Mahi ve and Welcome's Hoth Rasiley, also added punch to her power as an item girl.

In a split-second appearance among a galaxy of Bollywood stars in Heyy Baby and Om Shanti Om, both the sisters Malaika and Amrita Arora are seen shaking their booty, along with Arbaaz!

When a television channel, Live India, broke the story late last night (April 16) and asked the couple separately about the divorce, Arbaaz and Malaika neither confirmed nor refuted the news, but their replies were loaded.

"It is my private life and I would not like to discuss it in public," Arbaaz said, adding, "Life is uncertain and no one knows what will happen tomorrow."

Malaika seemed to be pretty shaken and also asserted, weakly though, "It is too personal and I would like to keep quiet on this issue." When reminded that keeping quiet on such issues indicates trouble, Malaika reiterated, "I believe silence is golden."

The news comes as a surprise especially at a time when Malaika and Arbaaz are getting ready for their Kannada film together, Shaadi Ke Side Effects. The film, which is ironically about marriage and infidelity, casts Malaika in her first lead role.

It could just be a publicity gimmick for the film, but their reactions did not seem to indicate that. Even the Kareena-Shahid split was initially supposed to be a gimmick for pushing Jab We Met.

Arbaaz and Malaika's 10-year-old marriage is to end, it can safely be concluded, unless there is a last minute reconciliation.

They have one son, Arhaan, from this marriage and people have always looked on in awe at the couple's successful bonding despite a failed career of Arbaaz and Malaika always being the hot-bod model mom who even appeared in various stages of undress in Maxim recently, but with a total understanding between the couple.

Ten years of mutual respect between a high-profile couple is not usual in Bollywood or showbiz. That is why this comes as a shocker, coming as it is without any runway clues.

The news trickling in is that Arbaaz has found a new love with whom he is living secretly at a Bandra property. Even during the Shahid-Kareena affair, there were rumours of the goody-goody Shahid having been seen with co-star Amrita Rao too many times.

Kareena is supposed to have spit fire and doused any flame waiting to break out. But here, Arbaaz has actually separated from Malaika, his wife since 1997 and mother to five-year old Arhaan, two weeks ago.

A friend of Malaika has told the media, "Malaika and Arbaaz have stopped communicating with each other completely. She is not even aware where Arbaaz is."

Arbaaz, on the split and a rumoured second marriage, says, "I don't want to comment on my personal life or on Malaika. Why is the press so impatient? They will know whether I'm remarrying or not in due time. I will probably talk about it soon. At this moment I don't want to say anything further."

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