After giving birth to her son Saif Ali Khan, Sharmila Tagore claims she was “absent” for the first six years of his life. The seasoned actor, who was wed to cricket player Mansoor Ali Khan, claimed that she worked at least two shifts a day in the film business when she gave birth to Saif.

Speaking at a recent Mother’s Day event for YFLO, the 79-year-old actor opened up about becoming a mother for the first time and how perhaps she made a “few mistakes.”. Sharmila also has two daughters, Saba Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan.

‘Made a few mistakes’

Sharmila Tagore said, “When I had Saif, I was very busy. I was working two shifts a day, and for the first six years of his life, I was really absent. I did whatever I had to do. I went to the parent-teacher meeting and attended his plays, but I don’t think I was a full-time mom. My husband was there, but I wasn’t. Then, when I became a mother, I became an overzealous mother. I wanted to feed him, bathe him, and do everything. That was on the other side of the pendulum. I made a few mistakes, honestly.”

“But he has grown up pretty well. My husband was there, and we had the support of the extended family and my friends. One of his schoolteachers would live across the street in Mumbai. She and her husband really looked after Saif as well… For the girls, I was there,” she added.

‘Worked non-stop’

Sharmila Tagore and her daughters Soha and Saba Ali Khan made an appearance on Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai several decades prior. The seasoned actor said in the episode that she worked “non-stop” until Saif Ali Khan was born, but that by the time she had her daughters, she was working less.

“I was doing two shifts a day, and sometimes I would not see him for three to four days in a row. But by the time my daughters were born, I wasn’t working that much, so there wasn’t any filmy atmosphere at home.”

Soha Ali Khan talked about how they never saw their mother’s “film side” on the show. Saba recalled the one specific memory she had of her mother, but Soha had stated she did not remember her getting up early for shoots. “We were taken aback to see her cry profusely. She told us that was glycerin! That’s when we realised that there was something like fake crying as well! That she was okay; there was nothing wrong with Amma,” she had recalled.