Zarine Khan, interior designer, actor Sanjay Khan’s wife and Sussanne Khan’s mother, is happy that her daughter has found happiness in her professional and personal life. Sussanne, who was formerly married to Hrithik Roshan is currently in a relationship with actor Arslan Goni.

Ask Zarine if she’s happy about her daughter finding love again, and she says, “Arslan has studied law and belongs to a reputed political family in Jammu. He’s also interested in acting, so I wish him all the best for that. His family is very good, and I am glad that Susanne and Arslan are happy together.”

Sharing her views on marriage, Zarine said, “If you find happiness with someone today, you are lucky. One does not know what lies in store in the future. Today, life is what you make of it. Marriage is not the only thing in life today. Hollywood couple Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russel have been in a relationship for ages now and are still happy together. The age-old notion that you have to be married to be happy and settled, no longer holds true now. Women are independent, established in their careers and also want to make their own decisions. And marriage is a bond, which not always keeps you bonded for life. So, I am happy to see that Arslan and Susanne are happy together and focused on their careers.”

Zarine also shared how her daughter Sussanne and Hrithik Roshan, who are co-parenting their sons (Hrehaan and Hridhaan) continue to be best friends.

“Duggu (Hrithik Roshan) continues to be my son and he is a wonderful human being. He and Sussanne may not be together, but they love each other as best friends. Together, they inculcate great qualities in their children. They respect each other and maintain a very healthy equation. I am glad that they have maintained dignity and respect for each other.”

Arslan Goni doesn’t like to talk about his personal life and his relationship status with interior designer Sussanne Khan. And the actor is amused by the recent report that claimed the couple is planning to get married in a hush-hush way soon. “I don’t know who has spoken about it, who has written about it. Aur unko kahan se pata chala. I’d like these sources to tell me more about it, kisne ye decision liya, kab aur kahan… I have zero comments on that,” he tells us.

His refusal to comment further is because he doesn’t want to add to the existing noise around his bond with Khan, who is actor Hrithik Roshan’s ex-wife. “I don’t like talking about my personal life, even with friends. I am that kind of person. There’s anyway so much chatter around my life,” says Goni, who recently returned to Mumbai after a vacation with Khan in the US.

Asserting that he isn’t trying to “hide anything”, he adds, “I am not answerable to anybody about my personal life. My personal life is good, so is my work life. But I don’t want to make a show of it. I don’t want to be that person. As an actor, this (personal life) is what we are left with. I don’t want to throw it in someone’s face. At the same time, if I am going out with her, I am not going to enter separately or something.”

Goni acknowledges the role pictures have to play in narrating the story about his life. But he isn’t really put off by the attention. “From initial speculation to the subsequent trolling to getting positive comments about my personal life, it comes with a peaceful feeling... You know that people actually appreciate you… I sometimes go through the comments, and it is nice to see that nobody is throwing hate at us,” elaborates the actor, who adds that at the moment, he wants to focus on his work. He is excited about the projects in the pipeline, including a remake of the Israeli series, Fauda.

Over the years, Hrithik Roshan and Sussanne Khan, though they divorced in 2014, have always been there for their sons, Hridaan and Hrehaan like one rock-solid family. They have been spotted together at family celebrations and even on some vacations. Recently, the two were seen at a party in Goa, though this time around with their partners. While Hrithik was at the event with musician-actress Saba Azad, Sussanne was accompanied by actor Arslan Goni. The couples were clicked at the Mumbai airport holding hands when they returned to the city on Tuesday.

While earlier reports claimed they were at a bash hosted by Pooja Bedi, that wasn’t the case. Talking to BT, Pooja says, “It wasn’t my party, but Sussanne’s! It was all her hard work and the ability to multi-task and host something on this scale, and I don’t want to take away from that. ”

Pooja adds, “Sussanne had hosted a party to launch a café in Panjim for which she’s done the interiors, hence all of us were there. This Sunday, I am launching my café, too, and I hope we’ll have a similar vibe.”

While both the couples haven’t officially commented on their relationship status, Hrithik and Saba seemed to have made their relationship Insta official with their recent exchange on social media. Ask Pooja what she thinks about her friend Hrithik and his new partner, Saba, and she says, “Please don’t ask me anything about Hrithik and Saba.”

She adds, “Overall, I am just happy when people find love, as not all relationships last forever. So, when you move out of what is not working and find someone who enables and empowers your journey ahead, it becomes liberating for any individual. You feel glad to leave behind what was wonderful, but wasn’t working anymore. Everyone must find meaningful and purposeful relationships at different phases of their lives. I’m delighted both Hrithik and Sussanne maintain so much respect and support between them and that both have found love again.”

Sussanne’s sister Farah Khan Ali, brother Zayed Khan with his wife Malaika and filmmaker Abhishek Kapoor were among the guests present for the event.

Actor Arslan Goni’s comment on rumoured girlfriend, interior designer Sussanne Khan’s Insta post caught everyone’s attention. Khan had posted about testing positive for Coronavirus, to which Goni replied: “You will be fine soon.” And at the end of this comment, he added three hearts and a kiss emoji.

“What [else] do I tell someone who has come out positive? I will always wish them ‘God bless you, and that you will get well soon’,” says Goni, explaining the comment.

He goes on, “As far as going viral is concerned and what people are saying, I cannot read all those messages. I don’t do that. Everyone has the right to say what they want to. But I am supposed to say something sweet to someone who has just tested positive.”

With rumour mills rife about reports of the two being in a relationship, Goni says that he has always tried to avoid the frenzy around it. “I normally don’t like to talk about it... [It is just about] two people living a good happy life. That’s it,” says the actor, who was seen in the series Mai Hero Boll Raha Hu.

While he ignores social media when it comes to rumours, he also adds that getting work without the support of social media is a tough task today. Recalling an incident, he says, “No producer or director has ever said anything directly to me, but I heard from one of the managers that ‘You don’t post too much on social media’ and he advised me ‘You should post more, it will benefit you’.”

The actor goes on, “It is believed that if there were more people following you, anything that you do would have a broad reach. Of course you can’t deny that funda.”

He may not have had a great start in Bollywood, but actor Arslan Goni is happy with the way his career is shaping up in the OTT space. Recently, he was also in the news for his friendship with Sussanne Khan (Hrithik Roshan’s ex-wife). Amid speculations of them being more than just friends, Arslan’s presence at Sussanne’s birthday party in Goa in October further fuelled the buzz. While the two have not addressed the rumours yet, Arslan in an exclusive chat with BT, opened up about his bond with Sussanne.

Arslan said, “Social media banter is a regular thing. It was just a birthday get-together with friends. Everyone can attend their friends’ birthday parties, right? People will always speculate and we know how to deal with it… by not paying heed.”

He added, “Sussanne and I are very good friends. I met her at a common friend’s house. We just hit it off instantly. We hang out together along with other friends. She is a very nice human being.”

On the work front, his debut film, Jia Aur Jia (featuring Kalki Koechlin and Richa Chadha) took about two-and-a-half years to complete and later, didn’t fare too well at the box office. He shared, “The film took a long time to complete, but that’s the nature of this profession and one has to be patient. Many don’t even get the opportunity I got. The film may not have done well, but it introduced me to the industry.”

Now, it’s a new inning for the actor as he feels that he is getting his due in web shows. Arslan, who hails from Jammu and is actor Aly Goni’s cousin, said, “While I was waiting for more films to materialise, I got into OTT. Life has been pretty good since. I feel that OTT will only grow as a medium to showcase new content and talent.”