'I met her when I was 18, she was 14. I looked into her eyes and I was like khuda ko dekh raha hoon (watching God),' Sanjay Khan said emotionally at the prayer service for his late wife Zarine Khan.
'I asked her, will you marry me? She looked at me with a smile and said if I feel the same about you the way I do now, then I will say yes after one year. So I said, even without her beauty, she is also an intelligent woman who would make a good wife," he added.
Family and film folk spoke about Zarine Khan, who passed into the ages on November 7 at the age of 81.
Zayed Khan, Zarine and Sanjay Khan's son, remembered his mother and said, 'My mother was my God. I will miss her deeply.'
Hrithik Roshan called himself 'privileged' to receive love from his former mother-in-law Zarine Khan.
'It has been my privilege to love and be loved by you,' Hrithik said.
Nephew Fardeen Khan said, 'Her memory, spirit and essence will live on through us.'
Sussanne Khan, who broke down at the prayer meet, shared a video from the occasion and penned an emotional note on Instagram: 'Zarine Sanjay Khan to the world, but to me and my siblings, simply our mother. She was my world, or so I thought until I witnessed the overwhelming turnout of people from all walks of life who came forward to pay their last respects to a woman who made each one feel seen and heard -- irrespective of class, social status, or faith.'
Zarine Khan's daughters Farah Khan Ali and Simone Arora as well as her grandchildren paid tribute to her at the prayer service.
Salim Khan, Helen, Jeetendra, Ranjeet, Dimple Kapadia, Tina Ambani, Saif Ali Khan, Twinkle Khanna, Farhan Akhtar, Rani Mukerji were among the film folk who attended the prayer service.
Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff
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