In 2005, Zayed Khan married his longtime high school friend, Malaika Parekh. (Photo: Zayed Khan/Instagram)
Many remember Zayed Khan as the charming newcomer who made his Bollywood debut in 2004 and quickly became a heartthrob with films like Main Hoon Na, Dus, among others.
Around the same time, he made headlines for marrying his high school friend, Malaika Parekh, someone he had known since 1995. In a candid conversation with Siddharth Kannan, Zayed reflected on how difficult it was to win Malaika’s heart. “Mujhe lagta hai 2 mahine lage sirf ankh mein ankh milane mein, aur she was a tough girl to woo. Not easy.” (I think it took me two months just to make eye contact with her, and she was a tough girl to woo. Not easy.) Zayed also addressed his decision to marry at a comparatively younger age, a choice that went against conventional industry advice since at the time, it was believed that an actor’s commercial viability might get affected because of their marital status. He was 25 at the time.
Zayed shared, “You are right about the fact that a lot of people were against me getting married at that time, especially many of the people I had signed films with. They all told me, ‘Your market value will fall, your fan following will drop,’ and so on. So I genuinely called all of them. I stepped back from about 10-15 films I had signed, maybe even 30. Three of the producers told me, ‘No, no, no, you go ahead. We still want you.'”
He also revealed that for him, it was “love at first sight” with Malaika. “I’ve never been the kind of guy who wanted a long-term relationship or anything like that. But I saw somebody who was probably meant for me. It was love at first sight. I don’t know what happened to me – I just saw this girl and said, ‘I’m going to marry her.’ Without even talking to her. I just knew it. I don’t know why. I just knew it. I said, ‘This is the person I’m going to marry.’ And it might have been scary for her – like ‘Who is this mad guy?’ Because she must’ve been thinking, ‘I just want to date him and see how he is.’ One thing led to another. I think what happened was, in 2004, Malaika’s father passed away. He had a heart attack. And I just went to her house and told her, ‘Pack your bag. You’re coming and staying with me. We’re going to get married.’ I really loved her father and I really loved her mother, they were beautiful people. And I had a very special bond with her father. And this was my girl, man. Nobody could take her away from me.”
Zayed made it clear that he has never regretted his decision to marry early. However, the spotlight did come with challenges, especially as his fame grew and female attention increased. When asked if that ever caused insecurity in his relationship, he responded with honesty and empathy for Malaika. “See, being liked by the fan following of ladies, girls and women was a good thing in an actor’s life. How you handle it, that is important. Was it tough? Yeah, very tough. It was tougher for her. Never insecure, I don’t think she is ever insecure. I can sense that she did hold back a lot of things that she probably wanted to tell me, and it’s the nature of the beast, unfortunately. You do get swayed by a lot of things and people. And there could have been mistakes, and it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary.”
When asked point-blank if there were any mistakes on his part, Zayed responded with striking candour: “Innocent are those who have not got caught as yet.” He has previously spoken about the unusual circumstances surrounding his marriage to Malaika. The couple actually tied the knot in a private ceremony days before their grand wedding celebration attended by thousands of guests. Seeking a moment of intimacy away from the spotlight, Malaika organised a beautiful, secret wedding for their closest friends and family. In the same interview, Zayed also admitted that he wasn’t well-versed in Hindu rituals and often looked to Malaika for guidance throughout the ceremony.