Shefali Shah Revisits Her Early Role in Waqt And Why Playing Akshay Kumar’s Mother Still Makes Her Cringe

Shefali Shah has always been candid, but her latest reflection on Waqt takes that honesty to another level. She was just 23 when she was cast as the mother of a 28-year-old Akshay Kumar. To make it even more surreal, Akshay was actually five years older than her off-screen.

Looking back, she admits she didn’t think through the decision at all. She didn’t see how it could shape how people perceived her. “I didn’t have the maturity or the understanding back then,” she said, recalling how unaware she was of the long-term impact it would have on her career. Today, she jokes that she’d probably want to “hide under a table” if she had to rewatch that film.

The Role That Taught Her What Not to Do

That experience ended up being a turning point. She realised very quickly that taking on such roles too early could lock her into a space she didn’t want to be in. After Waqt, she made a silent promise to herself: never again would she play a mother to someone almost her age.

It wasn’t defiance. It was clarity, the kind that comes only after you’ve learned a tough lesson in public.

How Delhi Crime Reinvented Her Craft

Years later, Delhi Crime transformed her relationship with acting. She stepped into the role with a different kind of discipline, one rooted in emotional truth rather than technique. No forced tears or shortcuts, just presence.

The show didn’t just win an International Emmy; it reminded audiences of the powerhouse Shefali really is.

Owning Her Journey, Unfiltered

What makes Shefali’s reflection refreshing is her humour and lack of ego. She doesn’t shy away from her missteps. She recognises how they pushed her to ask harder questions of herself  and grow into one of the most compelling performers working today.