Kiara Advani was heartbroken when Toxic failed to live up to expectations at the box office. But the film’s disappointing run was not the only thing she had to deal with. The actor also faced criticism for her intimate scenes with Yash, with some questioning how she could perform them after getting married and becoming a mother.
Speaking on Wednesday’s episode of Koffee with Karan Season 9, Advani opened up about the film’s failure, the backlash and her personal life. She appeared alongside her husband Sidharth Malhotra, marking their first joint appearance on the show.
“On day one, it’s heartbreaking,” Advani said. “As a team, in totality, I don’t think any of us saw it coming. When it misfired despite it opening to what it did, it was heartbreaking for me.”
What helped her through the disappointment was the praise for her performance as Nadia. Advani said the role was outside her comfort zone and would still be a defining one in her career.
Karan Johar also brought up the backlash over her intimate scenes with Yash. Much of the criticism centred on how she could perform such scenes after getting married and becoming a mother. Yash, who is also married and has children, faced no such scrutiny.
Advani said Malhotra was not bothered by the scenes and that they had never even discussed them. She also did not feel the need to defend herself because people online had already begun calling out the double standards.
From sliding into DMs to marriage
The conversation then turned to how their relationship began, with Johar playing an unlikely matchmaker. Advani and Malhotra met “properly” at their common friend Amritpal Bindra’s party after Johar made them “gatecrash” it. A few weeks later, Malhotra started “sliding into her DMs”.
They grew closer while working on Shershaah, but Advani wanted clarity about where their relationship was headed.
“You’re very hot and cold with me,” she recalled telling him before he left for the film’s Kargil schedule. “You are either in, or you are out. This in-between, I don’t understand. I can’t do it.”
Malhotra told her he was not ready to let a relationship get in the way of his work. But once he reached Kargil, he began calling and texting her every night. He kept it up for 30 days, and that was when they officially began dating.
Their relationship was not without its ups and downs. The two took another break while deciding whether they wanted to get married. Johar said he had never seen Malhotra so miserable. Malhotra eventually turned up at Advani’s vanity van while she was shooting JugJugg Jeeyo. They got back together, and he proposed the following month.
Parenthood, guilt and loss
Advani and Malhotra are now expecting their second child after welcoming their daughter Saraayah in July 2025. Advani called the pregnancy an unexpected but pleasant surprise. Malhotra said he had grown up around siblings and cousins and wanted a “full, happy Punjabi home”.
Advani also spoke about the challenges of motherhood after Saraayah’s birth. She said she had reached out to actors who had recently become mothers, including Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif and Patralekhaa, for advice.
“How do you blend these two worlds in a way that doesn’t make you guilty all the time?” she said. “This mom guilt is just there.”
The conversation took an emotional turn when Malhotra spoke about losing his father earlier this year after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He used to take his father swimming as part of his hydrotherapy. Now, he takes Saraayah to the same pool, something he described as life coming full circle.
During the Rapid Fire round, Advani told people who object to married women performing intimate scenes to “grow up”. Malhotra chose Varun Dhawan as his co-star for an Indian remake of Heated Rivalry. The AI bot judging Rapid Fire this season gave Advani 57 per cent of the vote and the hamper.
The episode also had its share of lighter moments, including stories from the couple’s wedding. Johar performed Besharam Rang and nearly pushed Shahid Kapoor off the stage when the actor tried to join him.
(Edited By Raunaq Lekhi)