‘Shweta Tiwari developed an attitude when she became successful, stopped treating me like a person': Ex-husband Raja Chaudhary felt like ‘background dancer'

Indian Express

3 days ago

Shweta Tiwari got married to Raja Chaudhary when she was just 19, however, a few years later, the marriage ended in very bad circumstances as Shweta accused Raja of domestic violence and infidelity. Soon after they got married, Shweta and Raja welcomed their daughter, Palak, who is now an actor. In a new interview, Raja shared that they got married within two months of meeting each other, and their relationship started falling apart after she became successful as a TV actor.
In a chat with Hindi Rush, Raja said that they met at a shoot and started dating soon after. 'We dated only for 2-3 months, then we got married. She said that she was 19 but I always felt she was older, maybe 20-21. I was also 24-25 years old at the time. We got married in a rush. And then, shortly afterwards, our daughter was born. And soon after our daughter was born, she started getting those Ekta Kapoor serials,' he said.
Raja said that they broke up a few years later, but the cracks in the marriage started appearing very early on. 'We broke up some 6-7 years later and all this while, she would be on set and I would be at home, taking care of the daughter and taking care of the house,' he said and added, 'Awara dost bhi bana raha hu, usme kya hai? Gharwale kehte hain jo log sharab peete hain voh log awara hote hain. Toh kuch aise sharabi log maine dost bana liye. (I started making friends with jobless people, what's wrong with that? Family members say that people who drink a lot are useless. So I made friends with such jobless people).'
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Raja recalled that their family members were not in favour of their marriage. 'My family said, 'wait, let us see what's up' but I didn't listen to them. I said I will get married the next day. It was a mutual decision. Even her family members said, 'don't get married' but she snuck out of the house with her brother and came to the court to get married,' he said.
Shweta became a household name after her show Kasautii Zindagi Kay became a hit, and as per Raja, this created a bigger wedge between the two. 'Life changed after her show became a huge hit. Then she started charging money by the hour. We were not struggling anymore. It felt like we are doing it together. It was later that I realised that she was doing it all by herself. I felt like I was a background dancer. There was too much attitude in her when she became successful, she stopped treating me like a person,' he said.
Shweta and Raja were married from 1998-2007.