Shefali Shah has just released his first memoir, dare to be And we sat down with the actor to talk about the book, his life and the chapters he chose to revisit. One of them is a chapter about her first marriage, which Shefali writes candidly about while choosing not to go into the details of what went wrong.

In our conversation, Shefali also opened up about a cryptic social media post shared by her ex-husband, actor Harsh Chhaya, in December 2025, which resurfaced this year. Although the post did not name the couple, it was interpreted by many online as a reference to their marriage.

In a now-deleted Facebook post, Harsh Chhaya wrote about an actor couple who divorced 25 to 30 years ago and whose separation was once widely discussed. He wrote of one man avoiding talking about the past and “letting it be done and dusted”, while suggesting that the other continued the emotional impact of the marriage. The post also references the actor’s current husband, a producer.

Shefali and Harsh Chhaya were married for about six years before they separated in 2000. Shefali is now married to filmmaker-producer Vipul Shah. In her memoir, she admits that her first marriage was not the best phase of her life, but she doesn’t name her ex-husband or get into the “nutty-gritty” of the relationship.

Speaking about the post, Shefali said that she was initially unaware of it until someone told her about it.

Once she was told what had been written, Shefali said she went into a “backward zone” and began to wonder if she herself had ever talked about her first marriage in interviews.

“Because it’s not really a part of my life anymore. It’s not even worth mentioning. I mean, it’s like, whatever, you know? And I don’t find it interesting to narrate something that happened a hundred years ago,” he said.

He explained exactly how he felt about the post. “I said, where is this coming from? And actually, I asked my team, have I said this in any of my interviews?” She added, “I make sure I don’t mention that person because it’s not really worth it. Would I sit down and mention a stranger? I wouldn’t, okay? That’s the way it is.”

Shefali also said that he saw no reason to respond with “no comment”. “Why wouldn’t I say a comment? Actually, that would just add to more speculation. And it’s not like a national secret,” she said.

He believes he has honed the subject in his memory.

“Even in the chapter, when you read it, I think I respected the whole thing a lot. I won’t deny that it wasn’t the best,” she said.

Shefali recalled that a friend later sent her a clip of the post, and her reaction was, “What the hell?” But given that the post was recent, she decided there was little she could do about it.

She even went back to her team to see if she had said anything that might spark a discussion. “Both Meera and Rhea sit in on all my interviews,” she said, explaining that they help “raise red flags” because, as Shefali admits, “I have no filters.”

Ultimately, his response to the renewed controversy was simple: “But I was like, take it. What can you do?”

For Shefali, the memoir seems to reflect a similar perspective. She has acknowledged a difficult chapter in her life without denying it, but has chosen to leave the finer details of it in the past.

Also Read: ‘No one is ready for divorce’: Shefali Shah reflects on first marriage to Harsh Chhaya