Tahira Kashyap on her parents’ reaction

In a new interview with Filmfare, Tahira revealed that when she lost her hair due to chemotherapy and posted a picture online flaunting that look, her parents got upset. She recalled, “My parents got really upset with me when I put my bald picture of myself (after the cancer diagnosis). A bald look for a woman is synonymous for a disaster somehow, so they refused to talk to me and were forcing me to take it down. But I said, ‘I am not doing that. I am celebrating right now, which you need to understand.’ They actually thought I have lost it. They were like how can you celebrate physical illness?”

Tahira said that when her parents refused to speak to her, she called them on video and tried to convince them that she was okay. “I didn’t know how to make my parents speak to me, so I video-called my mother and showed myself to her. I said, ‘Look at me, this is how I look right now and I am loving it.’ I was also wearing goggles and she sort of laughed and smiled. Then I told her this is how life is: I am happy, and you need to be happy for me. They were still clueless about ‘feeling happy’,” said Tahira.

Tahira Kashyap’s life and career

Tahira was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018. The filmmaker announced it on her Instagram and was vocal about her treatment, including getting a mastectomy. Tahira even posted a picture of her post-surgery scar on social media and has spoken about her battle to spread awareness. In 2024, Tahira debuted as a director with the Amazon Prime Video film Sharmajee Ki Beti.