Before marrying Aamir Khan’s step-brother, Hyder Ali Khan, Eva Grover dated him for 18 days. The decision to marry was not difficult for Eva because she had been in love with the idea of marriage since her teenage years.
Her mother didn’t approve of the inter-faith marriage, but Eva did not step back. She eloped with her boyfriend and got married.
But the rosy picture Eva had in her mind soon began to fade as she found herself in an abusive marriage. Five years after the wedding, Eva mustered the courage to leave the marital home. She had become a mother by then.
During a recent conversation, the actress opened up about her marital wounds and shared how she tried to save the marriage.
Dated for 18 days before marriage
“The truth is, I had dated him for only 18 days. In 18 days, you don’t really know a person. Looking back, I don’t think all the blame lies with him. Maybe some of the fault was mine too because it was too soon,” Eva told Vickey Lalwani.
“He proposed, I didn’t listen to my mother or anyone else, and I ran away with him. My career was taking off at that time. We belonged to different religions, but on the 19th day, I left with him and we got married,” she recalled.
He had anger issues
After Eva entered married life, things began to change as she discovered she didn’t know the man she had married.
“When I entered the marriage, I realised very quickly that he was not the person I thought he was,” she said. Describing the problems that surfaced, Eva added, “The first thing was his anger issues. They were far beyond anything I could have imagined. I had never dealt with that kind of aggression before because there were no men in my household while growing up.”
Asked if he assaulted her, Eva replied, “Yes. He was violent. I don’t want to focus on specific days, but yes, he was physically violent.”
‘My daughter gave me courage to leave’
After four years of marriage, Eva opted to have a child in the hope of saving the relationship. But it didn’t change her situation, nor her husband.
“Within a month of her birth, I reached my breaking point. I simply couldn’t take it anymore,” she said.
At the time, Eva was working on the television show Waqt Batayega Kaun Apna Kaun Paraya. She recalled how colleagues stepped in to help her.
“One day, the entire unit decided they would help me. They came to my house, spoke to my mother, and encouraged me to leave the situation,” she said.
“Thanks to all of them, I finally spoke to my mother. And my mother welcomed me back with open arms,” Eva recalled.
Aamir’s father mediated
Eva remembered the late filmmaker Tahir Hussain’s help. He raised Hyder and was the father of actor Aamir Khan.
“Tahir Hussain saab was a gem of a person. Whenever he got the opportunity, he would speak to me about it. He would get emotional and even cry,” she said.
She also praised her former mother-in-law, Shahnaz, calling her “a golden-hearted woman.”
Career
Eva had an illustrious career on television. She featured in hit daily soaps such as Kumkum – Ek Pyara Sa Bandhan, Karishma Kaa Karishma, Shararat, Waqt Batayega Kaun Apna Kaun Paraya, Sapna Babul Ka… Bidaai, and Bade Achhe Lagte Hain, among others.
She also acted in films including Aunty No. 1, Krishna Arjun, and Ready.
