- India,
- 12-Nov-2026 02:02 PM IST
Bollywood actress Kiara Advani has finally broken her silence on the heavy criticism and social media trolling she faced regarding her intimate scenes with South superstar Yash in the much-discussed film Toxic A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups. The actress admitted that the initial reaction and box office collection figures received by the film brought deep disappointment to her and the entire production team. To address this controversy and several other personal life aspects, Kiara appeared on the popular chat show Koffee with Karan Season 9 alongside her husband and actor Sidharth Malhotra. During the episode, the celebrity couple discussed various facets of their personal lives, including the news of their second pregnancy, which they officially announced in early October 2026.
While conversing with show host Karan Johar about the film's box office performance and audience reception, Kiara Advani recalled her struggles during the opening phase. She stated that handling the kind of environment and feedback generated during the initial weekend proved to be extremely challenging for her mentally. Although the film had a commercially strong opening, it failed to match the high expectations the entire team had invested in the project. Remembering her emotional state at that time, the actress shared that the first day was completely heart-breaking for her. She noted that none of the cast and crew members expected such a cold response, and that initial weekend was exceptionally painful and disheartening for her.
However, amidst this difficult phase, Kiara also highlighted the positive aspects and appreciation she received for the project, while she mentioned that stepping far out of her traditional comfort zone to play such a challenging and unconventional character earned her immense praise from the industry and critics alike. She believes that this film and role will prove to be a very significant turning point in her long acting career, allowing her to push her boundaries as a performer. The core of the conversation soon shifted to the controversy that erupted following the release of a special song titled Tabahi. After the release of this song, Kiara Advani faced massive trolling on social media regarding the intimate scenes filmed with Yash, with many people questioning her choices.
Trollers not only attacked her professional decisions but also unnecessarily dragged her married life and motherhood into the controversy. Sidharth Malhotra's name was also unnecessarily pulled into this entire sequence of events, and social media speculations ran wild regarding how a husband would react to seeing his wife perform intimate scenes on screen with another actor. Addressing this core issue, show host Karan Johar pointedly highlighted the deep-seated gender bias prevalent within the film industry. He reminded the audience and viewers how married male actors are rarely subjected to this level of scrutiny or public criticism for performing intimate scenes or bold roles on screen.
Responding to Karan Johar's observation about gender bias, Kiara clearly stated that her husband Sidharth Malhotra was completely unbothered by the controversy and didn't face any trouble because of it. She further revealed that Sidharth never brought up or discussed this topic with her at all. In Kiara's exact words, it didn't matter to him, he never spoke about it, and they never discussed it because it had no effect on him and caused him no trouble whatsoever, while the actress emphasized that women in the film industry have been subjected to this kind of double-standard criticism for decades. She clarified that many veteran and esteemed actresses before her had also endured similar baseless criticism.
Pointing toward this broader societal and cinematic pattern, Kiara noted that this has been happening for a very long time, spanning decades, and everyone from Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to several other prominent actresses has faced such prejudices in their careers. Interestingly, Kiara felt that she didn't feel the slightest need to justify any of her personal or professional decisions or respond to these unfounded criticisms. She drew immense strength and encouragement from the fact that when the controversy peaked, many sensible people started raising their voices against the hypocrisy behind such criticism. Explaining her perspective further, she concluded that she wanted to point out one thing: when she was browsing the internet to see what was happening, she noticed that many people had started speaking out against this double standard, and in such a scenario, she felt absolutely no need to justify her decisions.
