A trendsetter, a queen on the screen and off it, and one of Indian cinema’s most powerful stars – Zeenat Aman – turns a year older  (November 19). The cinema veteran, who has delivered several hit films throughout her career spanning decades, has also been a trendsetter with her fashion choices, bold statements and more.

The actress, however, has had a personal life full of controversies. She has never shied away from talking about the trouble in her paradise and once, in an interview with Simi Grewal on her chat show, Aman talked in length about everything that went wrong in her marriage with Mazhar Khan. She recounted how Mazhar never wanted to grow as an individual or as an artist. He always wanted her to be with the kids, and be home. While Aman realised her mistake of marrying him within the first year itself, she decided to make it work. Things, however, remained topsy turvy for the couple and in 1993, Mazhar was detected with a serious problem in his pancreas.

Aman recalled how she “literally lived with him in the hospital” all the years from 1993-1997. While Aman did everything in her capacity to help her husband for those five years, Mazhar passed away after that.    

“His death came as a major blow to me,” Aman had said, sharing that she had fought all the battles for him. After his death, however, Mazhar’s sister and mother blamed Aman for not supporting him. 

“I was told I should not have left him. They did not allow me to pay my last respects. Every single penny he had left was taken by his mother and sister. There was nothing left for my children,” she said, adding that her oldest son was “fed negative things” about her by Mazhar’s mother and sister. They had even said that Aman cheated on his father and was not there when he needed her the most. 

“Today they love their father as much as they love me. But that time was really tough for me,” Aman had said on Rendezvous with Simi Garewal.