Saba Pataudi Recalls Hurt at 27 as Soha Was ‘Barely in Touch’

On Soha Ali Khan’s podcast All About Her, Saba Pataudi opened up about a chapter the Pataudi family has rarely discussed in public: the benign brain tumour she was diagnosed with at 27 and the tensions she felt while going through it.

The episode quickly moved beyond a standard celebrity chat. It became a frank family conversation about illness, memory, independence and one old hurt between sisters.

The diagnosis and the family around her

Saba was 27 when doctors found the tumour, and she had surgery roughly six months later. The tests that followed pointed to a slow-growing Grade 1 tumour near the part of the brain associated with short-term memory.

Her mother, Sharmila Tagore, and her brother, Saif Ali Khan, were present and supportive through the treatment. The emotional gap, Saba said, came from Soha.

• Age at diagnosis: 27
• Tumour type: Benign, slow-growing Grade 1
• Location: Near the brain’s short-term memory area
• Surgery: Around six months after diagnosis

“Soha was actually barely in touch”

Saba was careful not to question her sister’s love. She said she knew Soha cared. What bothered her was the distance: cousins and other relatives reached out during the treatment, while Soha seemed caught up in her own life.

“Soha was actually barely in touch. That is something I actually do remember being a little upset with because my brother was there. My mother was there. And like she said, she wasn’t that young. Now that she realises she was 25, she was busy with her…”

During the podcast, Soha brought up a doctor’s question: if Saba could not look after herself, who would she want to care for her? Saba could not remember her answer, but Soha said it was “Amma.” Soha joked about being “nine in my mind,” and the neurosurgeon noted that Saba had not named Soha.

Saba said she could give her sister “the benefit of doubt” and that the two could sort it out after the show.

The fear behind the surgery

Saba also described the emotional weight of recovery. She remembered crying often without always knowing why, and being frightened by the idea of losing her independence.

“I didn’t want to be dependent on anyone. I didn’t want to become a vegetable. I didn’t want to be in a position where someone had to take care of me.”

Before she was prepped for surgery, Saba recalled telling the doctors not to wake her if she had lost her memory. She described a hospital routine that turned almost festive: family members gathered while she was told not to eat or drink during tests.

The conversation is a rare, human look at a family more often seen on red carpets and magazine covers. For fans of the Pataudis, it complicates the usual glamour with something far more relatable: how illness lands unevenly inside a family, and how silence from one person can sting even when love is not in doubt.

Source: The Times of India