Bollywood’s Mr Perfectionist aka Aamir Khan has always kept his personal life away from the limelight. He might often appear on his daughter Ira Khan’s Instagram, but when it comes to speaking about his life, Khan is reticient. So when it came to his divorce from Kiran Rao, the couple didn’t give away much and that made way for many speculations as to what drove them apart. 

Rumours suggested that Khan was dating another woman and hence the divorce happened. Other reports suggested many more outlandish reasons. Khan thought it was better to clear the air about the same rather than people cooking stories about his private life. He sat down for an interview with News 18 where he finally opened up about the divorce. 

He said, “Kiran and I love each other so much. We have a lot of respect and love for one another. But people don’t get this and I accept it because we don’t see it usually. Actually, Kiran and I realised that we like each other so much and consider one another family in the truest sense.

Kiran and I are actually families. But our relationship of husband and wife experienced a certain change and we wanted to respect the institution of marriage. However, we are always going to be by each other’s side. We are working together. We live close by. But we are no longer husband and wife and that’s why we decided to call it quits.”

The actor, who is celebrating his 57th birthday today, went on to add that Rao gave him the best gift. “I asked her, ‘Kiran, you know me the best, can you tell me such things — given that I am going through a phase where I’m trying to improve as a person, trying to focus on my weaknesses — can you tell me a few things that you feel are my weaknesses and drawbacks on which I should focus on?’ She gave me a list of ten to 12 points, that I sat and wrote as well. So that was my life’s best birthday gift,” he added. 

Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao met on the sets of Lagaan, where Khan played the lead role, while Rao was working as an assistant director. The two tied the knot on December 28, 2005. Khan was previously married to Reena Dutta and the couple have two children, Junaid Khan and Ira Khan.

(Featured Image Credits: Instagram)