Emotional farewell: Zayed Khan performs mother Zarine’s last rites, reason behind Hindu rituals explained

Zarine, 81, passed away due to age-related health complications.

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Her son, actor Zayed Khan, performed the final rites.

Soon after videos of the ceremony surfaced online, social media users began questioning why the rituals were conducted as per Hindu customs.

According to media reports, Zarine was a practising Hindu before her marriage and her maiden surname was Katrak. The family chose to honour her personal wishes and heritage in the final farewell.

Zarine, who briefly appeared in Hindi films such as Tere Ghar Ke Saamne (1963) and Ek Phool Do Mali (1969), later transitioned into a successful career in interior design. She is survived by her husband Sanjay Khan and their children — Sussanne Khan, Simone Arora, Farah Ali Khan and Zayed Khan.

A love story with storms

Sanjay and Zarine’s story began as a classic Bollywood romance.

As reported, Sanjay first saw Zarine in Juhu when he was 18 and she was 13.

In his memoir, quoted by The Indian Express, he wrote, “We gazed into each other’s eyes and in that moment, I knew hers were the eyes of someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.”

After several years of courtship, the two married in 1966.

However, their marriage wasn’t without turbulence. Media reports have long suggested that their relationship faced strain due to Sanjay’s rumoured affair with Zeenat Aman.

Zarine spoke about that phase in a Filmfare interview, as quoted by The Indian Express, “It came as a shock. I went through much emotional turmoil when I was carrying Zayed."

She recalled maintaining her public poise despite her emotional pain: “I would wear six-inch heels in the ninth month of my pregnancy just to be stylish, just to keep up a brave front. I was heartbroken.”

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Zarine eventually confronted Sanjay. “I threw a tantrum and gave him an ultimatum that I’d walk out. That’s when things returned to normalcy."

"Maybe it was just ‘a mad wind’ that blew over,” she said.

Sanjay, however, denied the affair in his memoir.

As quoted by The Indian Express, he explained: “Sometimes it happens that an actor and an actress, they get into character and they start living the character off the screen too. So the romance was between the prince and the princess… So there is the question of being in love in real life… didn’t happen.”