Malaika Arora (born 23 October 1973) is an Indian actress, dancer, model, VJ and a television personality who appears in Hindi-language films. She made her debut as a film producer in 2008, with her former husband Arbaaz Khan, founding the company Arbaaz Khan Productions, which created the Dabangg film series. As an actress, she has starred as a lead in films like Kaante (2002) and EMI (2008). She also performed in the songs Chaiyya Chaiyya (1998), Gur Naalo Ishq Mitha (1998), Maahi Ve (2002), Kaal Dhamaal (2005) and Munni Badnaam Hui (2010).
Early life and background
Malaika Arora was named after the Swahili word malaika (derived from the Arabic plural form مَلَائِكَة malāʾika) meaning "angel". She was born in Thane, Maharashtra. Her parents divorced when she was 11 years old and she moved to Chembur with her mother, and sister Amrita. Her mother, Joyce Polycarp, is a Malayali and her father, Anil Arora, was a Punjabi native to Indian border town of Fazilka, who worked in the Indian Merchant Navy.
She completed her secondary education from Swami Vivekanand School in Chembur. Her aunt, Grace Polycarp, was the principal of the school. She is also an alumnus of the Holy Cross High School Thane where she studied until ninth grade. She pursued her college education from Jai Hind College, Churchgate but did not complete it on account of professional engagements. She lived in Borla Society, Chembur opposite Basant Talkies before starting her modelling career.
Career
Malaika Arora (left) with her sister Amrita Arora, 2012.
Arora was selected as one of the VJs when MTV India started its operations. She began working as an interviewer, hosted shows such as Club MTV, and later co-hosted with Cyrus Broacha the shows Love Line and Style Check. Malaika then entered the modelling world, appearing in many advertisements, for album songs like Bally Sagoo's "Gur Naalo Ishq Mitha" opposite Jas Arora and item numbers such as "Chaiyya Chaiyya" in the 1998 Bollywood film Dil Se...
In 2010, she featured in the item song "Munni Badnaam Hui" in the film Dabangg, which was produced by her former husband Arbaaz Khan. On 12 March 2011, she helped set a world record with 1235 participants performing a choreographed dance to "Munni Badnaam" which she led.
She was the Taiwan Excellence celebrity endorser in 2012. She endorsed Dabur's 30-plus. She states that she never wanted to do acting. She performed live alongside Atif Aslam, Shaan and Bipasha Basu in a series of concerts at LG Arena in Birmingham and The O2 Arena in London.
In 2014, she confirmed that she would make a cameo appearance in the Farah Khan-directed action comedy-drama film Happy New Year.
Television
Malaika appeared on the television show Nach Baliye as one of the three judges. The show was aired on STAR One in mid-2005. She continued as a judge in Nach Baliye 2 which started airing in the last quarter of 2006. In this show, she performed many item numbers as an example for the contestants. She appeared on the show Zara Nachke Dikha as a judge on STAR One. She was a judge on the show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa in 2010.
Malaika is on the judges panel in the show India's Got Talent. She was the judge and host of the MTV Supermodel of the Year in 2019 and a judge of India's Best Dancer in 2020.
Personal life
Malaika was married to Bollywood actor-director-producer Arbaaz Khan in 1998 whom she met during a coffee ad shoot. Since her marriage with Arbaaz until they got divorced, she was known as Malaika Arora Khan. On 28 March 2016, they announced separation citing compatibility issues. The couple officially got divorced on 11 May 2017. Together they have a son, Arhaan Khan, born on 9 November 2002. The custody of the son after the divorce is with Malaika, while Arbaaz has visitation rights on his son, as per the settlement reached in the Bandra Family Court. Bollywood actor Salman Khan and actor-director-producer Sohail Khan are her former brothers-in-law. Her former father-in-law was scriptwriter Salim Khan.
Malaika has been in a relationship with actor Arjun Kapoor since 2016. In April 2022, Arora had an accident on the Mumbai–Pune Expressway when three cars collided with each other as she was returning home from an event. She was taken to the Apollo Hospital in Navi Mumbai where she got few stitches.
Malaika became a vegan in 2020.
