A while ago, actress Apara Mehta spoke about her separation from actor Darshan Jariwala, she said that he walked out of the house and even called her the 'ugliest woman' he has ever know. Mehta also revealed that Darshan told her that 'he has fallen out of love'. Now, Darshan has broken silence and addressed the allegations made by his estranged wife.Jariwala and Mehta have been living separately for 23 years, although they have never legally divorced. Responding to Mehta’s account, Darshan disputed her recollection of the events and suggested that her version could be the result of what he described as a “false memory.”“There’s a neurological phenomenon that with time, your memory of an event keeps changing. I can say very generously that it’s a case of false memory. The way it’s been narrated, nothing like that happened,” claimed Jariwala in a conversation with Siddharth Kannan.The actor also denied that he would have made a remark about Mehta’s appearance, arguing that such comments were never in keeping with his personality.“I’m not that kind of a guy who would even tell, let’s say a plain-looking woman, that she’s ugly. It would be a very irrelevant remark to make. If I know myself well, I’d talk about how the person is inside, and not really from outside,” he added.Jariwala said Mehta was “absolutely welcome” to “play the victim card”, but maintained that he has moved on from their past and is “very happy” with his life today. The actor has been in a relationship with interior designer and architect Anahita Italia since 2010.Questioning why the allegations had surfaced decades after their separation, Jariwala said, “I can’t even fathom why she’d want to talk about these things 23 years after being separated. And never before this! If this is the history, and she’s had the opportunity to take this to the media, why now?,” he said.He further maintained that he could only speak for his own version of events and could not determine Mehta’s intentions.“We can’t sit in her mind and judge. I know my truth. My truth is my truth. There’s no limit to lies. I can’t even gauge her motivation,” said Jariwala.“The people who really know me know the entire story really well because my version doesn’t change. Truth has no versions,” he added.Explaining what led to their separation, Darshan attributed it to the fact that the couple gradually developed different priorities and outlooks after marrying in 1982. He said changes in their personal circumstances, careers and financial situation also contributed to the breakdown of their relationship.“Two people grow to be different. If you plant two saplings together, they’ll grow differently. Her priorities are different, mine were different. My circumstances changed because I was involved in an unsuccessful business venture. Even our thinking about how we want to deal with our careers was different. So, we tried to give the best childhood to our daughter. That’s where we were very clear. A relationship goes through changes sometimes,” said the actor.Darshan also addressed why their marriage was never legally dissolved. According to him, he had initiated divorce proceedings, but the process did not go through.“I did file divorce papers, but the judge rejected the application. She didn’t give her consent,” said the actor.He further claimed, “She’d agreed for divorce, but she changed her mind in front of the judge at the last minute. She’s probably playing a character of a nice, wronged victim.”The actor also recalled leaving their home in Santacruz West and allowing Mehta and their daughter to stay there. Recounting that he “just walked out of their home,” Darshan said he left behind what he could afford to give them.“That’s all I had to give to her. If someone had to ask for alimony, it should’ve been me because I was under those circumstances. But nothing like that happened.”

Jariwala said he did not have another home or sufficient money to immediately arrange rented accommodation after leaving. He consequently stayed with friends for a period before eventually being able to rent a modest house.“But the circumstances were like that I went through that pain despite that,” said Jariwala.Darshan’s career later picked up after years of financial and professional struggle. He went on to feature in a popular cola commercial alongside Aishwarya Rai before earning widespread recognition for his National Award-winning performance in Feroz Abbas Khan’s 2007 period drama Gandhi, My Father.During the interview, the actor also spoke about his equation with his daughter. He said the two remain in regular contact and share a close relationship.“I’m quite good as a father. I keep in touch with her. I’m quite aware of all the developments in her life. She has a good channel of communication open with me. She also has a debit card from me,” said the actor.Jariwala also rejected Mehta’s claim that she raised their daughter singlehandedly, suggesting that people sometimes interpret the past through their own emotional experiences.“Sometimes, we take a vacuum in our lives and try to decorate it. We put strangeness where there’s nothing, consciously or subconsciously,” claimed Jariwala.