Kiara Advani: Sidharth was unbothered by Toxic trolling

Kiara Advani has finally spoken about the storm around Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups. On Koffee With Karan Season 9 she sat beside husband Sidharth Malhotra and addressed the film’s opening weekend, the trolling over the song Tabaahi, and the question that kept following her: what did her husband think of her intimate scenes with Yash? The episode also touched on a happier personal note: the couple’s second pregnancy, announced in early October 2026.

The opening weekend hurt

The gangster drama had a strong start, but the response did not match what the team had hoped for. Kiara said the first weekend felt personal. “On day one, it is heartbreaking… It was heartbreaking for me that first weekend. I was very low about it,” she told Karan Johar.

At the same time, she said the praise for playing Nadia, a role far outside her comfort zone, stayed with her. “I think in my journey this will be defining,” she said.

Sidharth’s silence, and the real double standard

The conversation turned to the backlash after Tabaahi, when social media users questioned Kiara’s intimate scenes with Yash and dragged her marriage and motherhood into the debate. Karan pointed out what many viewers noticed: married male actors rarely face the same scrutiny for similar on-screen choices.

Kiara’s response was simple. “He has never brought it up… he was not bothered,” she said of Sidharth. She added that they had never even spoken about the controversy.

• Sidharth never raised the subject, and the trolling did not affect him.
• Kiara sees this as an old pattern: “from Aishwarya to so many wonderful actors.”
• She felt no need to justify herself because many online were already calling out the hypocrisy.

Why this matters beyond one film

Set in post-independence Goa, Toxic is directed by Geetu Mohandas and stars Yash in two roles, Raya and his son Rumi, with Kiara as Nadia, Rumi’s mother. The film is a crime saga of power and shifting loyalties, but the discourse around it quickly became about a woman’s choices rather than her performance.

Hindi film fans have been here before. The same scrutiny followed other actresses, and the same conversations about a husband’s reaction ignore how ordinary an actor’s job is. What made this interview feel different was the lack of defence: Kiara described the criticism, named the pattern, and moved on.

That is the larger point Kiara underlined. The judgement has been thrown at actresses for decades, while male co-stars get a pass for the same work. It is a pattern film fans have seen repeat, and her refusal to explain herself may be the most telling part of the interview.

Source: The Times of India