Mumbai: Bollywood is a great place to be in, accepts actor Malaika Arora, adding, “I think there’s a wish to experiment and try out something new. That’s probably how I got inspired.” Although, she does agree there may have been a sense of insecurity in the industry too.
Malaika was very young barely a graduate when she first entered the showbiz world. She still recalls not knowing how to go about things and how she just went on with the flow. Now she is upbeat about her work in Bollywood and calls it a “work revolution.” In the world of glamour and glitz, paparazzi is bound to storm celebrities a fact, she accepts, adding, “You’ll find it everywhere. It has been instrumental in changing so many lives.”
She advises, “If you are in show business, you have got to take it in your stride. If you are not comfortable with it (paparazzi), make it known or don’t be in this business.”
Malaika is upbeat about the fact that the issue of work parity in Bollywood wherein celebs given work based on their marital status, has toned down compared to what it was a few years ago. “Earlier, probably, there was a shelf life for married women in the industry. I think now that entire trend has changed and I think that it’s a good thing,” she says.
The actor, recently, opened up about her separation with Arbaaz Khan after 19 years of marriage on the show What Women Want hosted by Kareena Kapoor Khan. When asked about what is the best advice she received when she announced that her divorce she said, “If this is the decision that you’re making, then we are really proud of you and in our eyes you are a really strong woman… this is what gave me the extra strength that I needed.”
On the issue of how to manage a hectic and grueling work life, how does she still manage to find time to spend with her 16-year-old son, Malaika says, “My 16-year-old has seen me go to work since he’s been a child so he knows that’s how it is. I think we manage pretty good.” She later adds, “At the end of the day, when I go back to my son and spend that quality time with him. It’s all that matters.”
