Sanjay Khan once vehemently denied slapping Zeenat Aman, claimed her eye injury was...: 'She became little bit squint because her mother...'

Sanjay Khan, one of Bollywood's most iconic actors, once addressed the rumours surrounding his turbulent marriage to Zeenat Aman. The duo tied the knot but it ended in 1979 after just a year. Their relationship always remained mired with controversy with Sanjay Khan also facing accusations of physical abuse. The main accusation that Sanjay Khan faced was that he slapped Zeenat Aman during an argument, causing a serious injury to her left eye.

Sanjay Khan, addressing these rumours, once gave his version of how everything transpired. In an old radio interview with Hrishikesh Kannan, Sanjay Khan revealed details about his emotional state after the release of his film Abdullah in 1980. Sanjay Khan also explained why he chose to stay away from films for a while. 

"Post the release of Abdullah, I had gotten offers from many producers to work in some big films, which I didn’t take. I was in self-exile for four years. I was so pained and horrified by the one-sidedness of the entire story. Nobody even asked me what happened. This was a kind of well-planned PR attack against me. It came like a blitzkrieg and mentally I was very disturbed. The facts were totally and radically opposite," Sanjay Khan said. 

Sanjay Khan vehemently denied that he was responsible for Zeenat Aman losing her eye. Denying any abuse, he said, "I was even accused of being responsible for her losing her eye. This is not right.” 

He said that Zeenat Aman's eventual squint was due to hereditary factors, not from any physical altercation. "If you see from 1981 to 1984, she has done several films and has perfect eyes. Later on in life, she became a little bit squint because her mother was squinted a little bit. This was the true story. It was hereditary and was labeled on me that I slapped her. I never slapped her. This was blasphemy," Sanjay Khan said. 

He further added, "I have always respected all the leading ladies I worked with, and never had an incident with anybody. I don’t have any angst against the lady concerned. This was exaggerated to the point one could not believe and it was done by one particular journalist who had some angst with me. As a result, I did not work in films for 4-5 years. This incident kept me back because I was very unjustly treated. It was not true."

Sanjay Khan revealed how superstars Dev Anand and Raj Kapoor did not call him once after he faced these allegations. "One thing is very pertinent to note that neither Raj Kapoor nor Dev Anand called me even once to ask me what happened. Raj Kapoor was very close to me and I also knew Dev Sahab, I respected him a lot. If they felt some injury was done by me to her, they would have definitely asked me, especially Raj ji. So it speaks a lot about the person. I have done no harm to anyone in my life. I have never harmed her or disturbed her mentally. It was a one-sided thing."

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