MUMBAI: In a powerful, never–before–revealed admission, national award–winning actor Shefali Shah has opened up about her deepest insecurity—the fact that even after global acclaim and decades of celebrated performances, she still struggles with imposter syndrome, feeling of "not belonging" and constant fear of not being “good enough.”
In conversation with Navika Kumar, Group Editor-in-Chief of Times Now and Times Now Navbharat, Shefali confessed that behind her fearless screen presence lies a very real, very private battle with self-doubt that she has never spoken about publicly.
Shefali shared that she never saw herself fitting into Bollywood’s traditional template: “There’s a stereotype of beauty—tall, thin, fair—and I didn’t fit any of it. I always believed I wouldn’t be a heroine. I just wanted to act.”
Candid and emotional, she reflected on the quiet years of isolation when work disappeared and she felt completely invisible, especially after she stepped away to have children and was quickly written off by the industry. Shefali recalled waiting for years—unsure if anyone would trust her with a role again.
"Till date, when the director says ‘action’, I freeze,” Shefali revealed. “I’m petrified, like it’s my first day in front of the camera. After the National Award also, I told myself—maybe it was just luck, maybe I can’t do it again.”
Today, having shattered age, beauty and format stereotypes by leading some of the most defining roles of contemporary Indian storytelling, Shefali insists she is only getting started:
“I want to work 365 days a year. I love what I do. My real career began with Delhi Crime. And I feel like I’m just beginning.”
Her journey from growing up in a tiny shared kohli, where two whole families lived in a single room, to becoming the face of internationally acclaimed projects like Delhi Crime has come with intense battles, internal and external. But her choices have always been guided by authenticity rather than glamour or commercial pressure.
Raw, honest and rare—Shefali’s confession is a reminder that even the strongest women carry silent fears, and yet they rise every single time.
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