The Arjun-Mehr Split Friends Saw It Coming For A Long Time

I’ve known—and liked—Arjun Rampal for years. I can say with certainty that in this industry where the Nawazuddin Siddiquis change with success, Arjun has remained the same person since we met on the sets of Vipul Shah’s Aankhen in 2001.

Since then we have remained consistently connected, never pretending to be best friends. Arjun isn’t the sort who will pursue you for his purposes with effusive declarations of friendship. Stable, kind, honest and level-headed…that’s how he is on screen as he is in person.

We never spoke about his disintegrating marriage. He never mentioned .it I never asked about it. Arjun is an extremely private person. But now that they have officially called it quits it can be safely be said that this couple’s marriage has been teetering on the brink for some time now.One wouldn’t want to go into their problems. Suffice it to say that Mehra and Arjun grew together in their first decade of marriage, just like Farhan and wife Adhuna.Then they began to grow separately.

The past few years have been a struggle for Arjun to save his marriage. The couple came to the brink of separation a couple of years ago, then decided to give their marriage another chance for the sake of their two daughters(again ,almost like an instant-replay version the Farhan-Adhuna marriage). But it seems God and destiny had other plans.

Now with the marriage being called off, it is time for Arjun and Mehr to redefine their relationship as responsible parents .

Says a mutual friend, “Like Farhan-Adhuna and Hrithik-Susanne, Arjun will continue to be responsible and hands-on parents to their children. Mehr and Arjun will remain one family when it comes to their children. They will also look out for one another as much as any two close friends can.”

It is interesting to see estranged couples in the Indian entertainment industry maintain cordial relations even after the end of the marriage. Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar and now Arjun Rampal aspire to maintain a decorum and a civility in their post-marital relationship with their respective spouses.