Actress Shefali Shah has been married to director Vipul Shah for over two decades now. But before Vipul, the actress was married to actor Harsh Chhaya. The two worked together in Zee TV’s show Hasratein. They got married in 1994 and parted ways in 2000. While both Harsh and Shefali have referred to their separation as a difficult phase in their lives, recently, during a conversation with Lallantop, Harsh Chhaya opened up about his divorce from Shefali once again. The actor discussed his views on separation and how to deal with it when he revealed going on several rebound dates after parting ways with Shefali.
Harsh Chhaya on his divorce with Shefali Shah
In a recent interview, actor Harsh Chhaya shared his views on divorce and said how the term is seen as taboo, leading to many staying stuck in a marriage for years. Sharing his views on divorce, Harsh also added how one can deal with separation and said, “It is a very personal case-to-case kind of thing, our case was very clear, I could see that the relationship was hitting a dead end. When I was told, ‘I cannot stay with you anymore’; 8-9 months before that, I knew this was coming. I was prepared. For me, even though I know what is happening, at that moment I don’t let it affect me mentally, so I focus on work, on myself, because I left Delhi and came to Mumbai for this. Personally, how one deals with it depends on them. I fortunately come from a space where I don’t get shaken easily.”
Harsh further added, “You need to try and stay sane when a situation like this comes; if you are uncomfortable, live with it, don’t try to show yourself as strong. I lived with it for 5-6 months, regretted, shouted, etc. One day, I saw that you are under stress, everyone around you is willing to listen to your story, and share their views. Once I spoke to someone, we discussed each other’s issues, and later we went on a date; it happened a few times and I made it a formula. I went on multiple dates over 2-3 months. It takes time, you don’t have to show your bravery, rather show what you are feeling.”
The actor went on to share his views on divorce and the negative connotation attached to it. He said, “Two people can’t stay together 24/7; I cannot live with my clone for 365 days. For me, divorce is not a big deal; in fact, if it has to happen, it should happen sooner rather than later, so the relationship is not dragged. When we decided, we got our application back-dated, declaring that we had been living separately for six months. We acted on it quickly.”
‘The separation was pretty tough’
In 2024, during an interview with Siddharth Kannan, Harsh had called his separation with Shefali a difficult phase and said, “The separation was pretty tough. It is an old story now. 20-25 years have gone by. For me, it is a closed chapter.” In an earlier interview with Hindustan Times, Harsh had said, “It hurt. The separation didn’t take me by surprise. I had seen it coming for almost eight months, and I still look back at it very pragmatically. Two people met, fell in love, got married, and parted ways. One couldn’t do anything about it. I felt it was better to separate than live a life where you don’t know where your marriage is going. After feeling bad and gathering enough sympathy for myself, I finally got out of it in six months.”
In 2022, Shefali Shah also spoke about her failed marriage during an interview with Pinkvilla. She said, “I have given a long, long chunk of life to that relationship. I worked very hard, and I used to believe that marriages are happily ever after until you realise, okay, it’s a notion. That’s not necessarily how things work in life. It wasn’t that the whole phase wasn’t making me richer or happier, or sane. And after a point in time, you just realise what is better for you, what is better for everyone around. So, not for a second did I think it was because I gave it a lot of time and everything I had in me. And it didn’t work out. It’s just too bad. Why do people make hue and cry about it?”
After parting ways with Harsh, Shefali Shah married director Vipul Shah in 2000. The two have been married for 25 years now and have two sons – Aryaman and Maurya. Harsh Chhaya also married Suneeta Sengupta in 2003. On the work front, Harsh was recently seen in the web series Undekhi Season 4.
