Inside story of Arjun Rampal and Mehr Jesia's separation

Arjun Rampal and Mehr Jesia dropped a bombshell on fans on Monday morning, when they announced in a joint statement that they were going their separate ways after two decades of being married.

The word on the street is that the couple had been growing apart for a while, and six months ago, they came to the conclusion that their differences were irreconcilable. Four months ago, Arjun packed his bags and moved out of their sea-facing duplex to a rented apartment.

Mumbai Mirror reports that the reason they took so long to go public was because they were waiting for their daughters, Myra and Mahikaa, to come to terms with the separation before they announced it.

Apparently, the cracks in their marriage appeared as early as 2011, when Arjun and Mehr fell out of favour with Shah Rukh Khan. If a source close to the couple is to be believed, Arjun sent feelers to Shah Rukh and expressed his desire to be a part of Ra.One.

"But Mehr allegedly insisted on a higher remuneration for her husband from co-producer SRK himself, who swore to never work with Arjun in the future. The two subsequently had a public falling out during the film's release. After that, Shah Rukh stopped taking Mehr's calls. His wife, Gauri Khan, who had been close friends with Mehr, severed ties with her as well," the insider revealed.

Arjun also managed to rub Karan Johar the wrong way, when he gave his nod to We Are Family, and then hiked his fee at the last minute. Karan was miffed and reportedly vowed never to work with Arjun again.

Soon, Arjun and Mehr were dropped like hot potatoes from the inner circle of Bollywood's most elite. Snubbed by his friends from the industry, he found solace in Sussanne Khan. Close friends of the actor told the publication that Arjun had been smitten with her for a long time.

"When his equations with many industry friends were worsening, his friendship with Sussanne only strengthened over time and Mehr grew extremely insecure. It led to several fights between the couple," an insider said, recalling a nasty showdown between the two women at a party hosted by Fardeen Khan last year. "Mehr and Sussanne yelled at one another before Mehr stormed out of the party. The two have not spoken to each other since," the source added.

Fingers were pointed at Arjun when Hrithik Roshan and Sussanne Khan announced their split. However, Arjun vociferously denied that he had anything to do with Hrithik and Sussanne's marriage crumbling.

"I read in the news as the same time as you all about my involvement in this marriage. It saddens me deeply that rumours become inevitable during celebrities going through such times. Mehr and I wish them only peace and love through these times and support them as friends should and we wish them and their families well always," Arjun said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Sussanne was also not amused by the "malicious" rumours of her affair with Arjun and clarified in a statement in November 2014, "Arjun and Mehr are friends and have been for years. To poison a relationship such as this is malicious behavior. I have, with Mehr, earlier stated in the same paper that there is no truth to the claim that Arjun and I are anything more than friends."

However, the rumours refused to die down. In 2015, Mehr had been fighting tooth and nail to save her marriage, but there came a point when she was heartbroken and moved in with her mother in Dadar's Parsi colony. The reconciliation came soon after, and Mehr returned to her home with Arjun. The couple began making lots of public appearances together, and it seemed like nothing had been amiss in the first place.

Arjun and Mehr decided to give their marriage another shot, but things went awry last year. Mehr had to be escorted home by a friend after she broke down in the Mount Mary church in Bandra.

"Mehr had learnt that Arjun and Sussanne were still meeting secretly and were close friends. She was traumatised as she had believed Arjun when he said he was a changed man and that everything would be fine," the insider revealed.

While Arjun and Mehr had their fair share of fights and reconciliations, the differences kept growing. In late 2016, the couple had a nasty spat, that resulted in Arjun walking out of their home for the first time.

"They were fighting so loudly and throwing things at each other that the neighbours threatened to complain to the police as it wasn't the first fight of its kind. Mehr apologised profusely to them and immediately after that, Arjun moved into a five-star service apartment for a week," a filmmaker close to the couple said.

Eventually, Arjun and Mehr had enough of fighting and decided to part ways. On Monday morning, they announced in a joint statement, "After a 20-year-long beautiful journey filled with love and beautiful memories, we would like to share, that all journeys have different paths. We feel that it is time for us to move on to different destinations henceforth."

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