The secret life of ‘Lion’: When actor Ajit hid a second family in Hyderabad for years | Bollywood News

3 min readMumbaiApr 12, 2026 02:49 PM Ajit, best known for playing memorable antagons like Lion in Subhash Ghai’s 1976 action thriller Kalicharan, had quite an eventful personal life. The actor, who breathed his last at the age of 76 in 1988, got married thrice. In fact, he remained committed to his second wife, who was also his cousin, and their children, even after marrying his third wife, Sarah, with whom he had two children.
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Shehzad Khan, Ajit’s elder son from his third marriage, has now opened up on his estranged yet extended family. He revealed that while Ajit had a love marriage with his first wife, Gwen, an Anglo-Indian, it fell apart because they couldn’t conceive kids. “How could the Pathan legacy move forward then? It was a huge deal back then. So, my grandfather got him married to his cousin, Shahida aunty,” said Shehzad.
Shahida and Ajit went on to have three sons — Shahid Ali Khan, Zahid Ali Khan, and Abid Ali Khan — but that was a mystery to Sarah, who went on to be Ajit’s third wife, also a love marriage. “My dad’s second marriage remained intact. He never told my mom he’s married. He hid his second wife and their kids away in Hyderabad. My mother was 25 years younger than my father. Had my mom known about his second marriage, she’d have never married him. She found out only after I was born,” revealed Shehzad.
While Ajit’s second marriage remained a mystery till he got married to Sarah, he did make his third wife meet Gwen, with whom he remained amicable long after their divorce and despite her relocating to London. But even after Sarah got to know of Ajit’s second wife and their kids, she remained in the marriage. “My mom compromised, like every woman did back then. Of course, I was pained that. It came as a shock to me too,” said Shehzad.

He recalled how his father was quite impartial towards his second wife and their kids, as he continued to shuttle between both his families in Hyderabad and Mumbai. “God bless him, but he was so unfair that he bought a lot of property in Hyderabad, but close to nothing here. My stepbrothers seized all the property. It doesn’t matter who the property was bought for, but he was as much our dad as theirs. The property has to be divided,” said Shehzad, adding, “But God has its own way of getting back. One of them has a kidney issue, the other has some other. How long would you sustain yourself with rental income?”
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Shehzad Khan confirmed he’s not in touch with any of his stepbrothers. “I don’t have any connection with them. They’re all in Hyderabad. The second wife is still around if I’m not maken,” he said, adding, “My dad may have made makes — once, twice, or I’d say even thrice — but he remained our father.”