Shefali Shah says she walked out of her first marriage when she felt it could ‘kill’ her: ‘Realised I am not pizza’
Published on: Jan 07, 2026 09:19 am IST
Shefali Shah got married to filmmaker Vipul Shah in a low-key ceremony in 2000. She was earlier married to actor Harsh Chhaya.
Actor Shefali Shah, who was previously married to Harsh Chhaya, has admitted that the challenges she faced with her ex-husband were so overwhelming that she decided to live alone rather than staying in the relationship.
Shefali looks back
Shefali walked down the memory lane and recalled the lessons of her life when she joined a podcast as part of Spotlight Sessions which was posted on Zoom’s YouTube channel.
Looking back at the turbulent period of her life, Shefali shared, “Nobody told me that you are enough. You don’t need a husband, a friend, a brother, a sister to be complete. You are enough. So if you have great relationships, fantastic. But if you don’t, that’s not going to determine your value. Nobody told me that. And obviously, you go through things and you realise it yourself. It comes to a point where it’s make or break for you of yourself. That is when the realisation dawns. It may be happening every day, but then there’s that one moment when you realise, ‘Okay, this can kill me. I can’t do this anymore.’”
She added, “For me, this realisation came after my first marriage. A close friend once asked me, ‘What if you never find love again? Would you take that risk or stay?’ I replied that I would still take the risk. If I have to spend my life alone, I would choose that. I cannot remain in a situation that doesn’t bring me joy and confidence or make me feel valued. That’s when I decided to move out and live alone for the first time, having always lived with my parents. As you age, you begin to care less. You become weary of trying to please everyone. That’s when I reached a state of enlightenment, realizing that I am not pizza; I can’t satisfy everyone.”
Shefali got married to filmmaker Vipul Shah in a low-key ceremony in 2000. They share two sons together: Aryaman and Maurya. She was earlier married to actor Harsh Chhaya.
Shefali’s recent work
Shefali was most recently seen in Delhi Crime Season 3 as DIG Vartika Chaturvedi. The new season also stars Rasika Dugal, Rajesh Tailang, Huma Qureshi, Sayani Gupta, Mita Vashisht, Anshumaan Pushkar, and Kelly Dorji. Delhi Crime Season 3 is streaming on Netflix.
