WORK MATTERS

of the promotions, but at night, he would come to the hospital and go again in the morning.

You have spoken about feeling insecure in your marriage earlier. It’s rare for a ‘star wife’ to be candid in an industry that swears by political correctness.

Before belonging to any industry or person, I am me. I need to belong to myself first. This was my journey and I felt more in tune with myself when I was talking about this. Also, I had funny, weird takes on my condition, which sort of helped.

Social media can be a particularly cruel place for public figures. Did you anticipate any trolling after you posted pictures of your bald head?

My intention was very clear – I was sharing a message with the world. That’s how the world perceived and received it at large. But yes, there were cases where people were uncomfortable with me showing my back and the scars, my baldness, they were uncomfortable with me walking the ramp. And that’s when I realised that this is exactly what I had to change. If you have a problem with one picture, I will keep posting more. I wanted to spread awareness not just on early breast cancer detection, but also selflove. I was never really a person who was in love with herself. Through this process, I realised you need to respect your mental and physical well-being. That became my motto. Of course, I have trolls telling me that I look like Shah Rukh Khan; when I put up a picture with Ayushmann, they say, ‘bhai-bhai’. Some people have called me an attention seeker. I tell them yes, I want your attention, not towards me but the cause. And if this is what it takes to get your attention, so be it.

Your seven-year-old son was uncomfortable seeing you go bald. What did it take for you to normalise that state at home?

Tahira is currently working on a short film with Guneet Monga and looking towards a feature film, which will be womencentric. “But my kind of writing is not preachy. So, the film will be quirky and fun; it will be about enjoying womanhood,” she says.