Kiara Advani says she’s ‘become more of a tigress’ since embracing motherhood

In 2025, Bollywood Kiara Advani welcomed her first child, daughter Saraayah Malhotra, with husband Sidharth Malhotra. Since then, she has been focusing on her family and her newborn. However, the actress is now set to make her return to the big screen with Yash-starrer ‘Toxic’, which will also mark her Telugu debut. Recently, she opened up about being a new mom and how her life has changed after embracing motherhood.

Speaking to ‘Grazia’, Kiara shared that after welcoming her daughter, she feels more independent as she is ‘running our own home or creating our little universe together’, yet she feels ‘everything else is the same’. She said, “Before marriage, Sidharth (Malhotra) and I had the same banter and had fun travelling so those things still remain. We also watch movies together and since we look at it as cinema lovers or as the audience, as well as actors, we get excited to discuss it.”

Talking about how she has become more protective after becoming a mother, she said, “I’ve become more of a tigress. The way I see life now is through a completely different lens. It’s like nothing else matters and at the same time, everything matters.”

Director Geetu Mohandas, who cast her in ‘Toxic’ (2026), lauded Kiara and revealed that she was her first choice for the role of Nadia in the film. Geetu said, “Nadia (portrayed by Advani) embodies fragility and ferocity at once, so from the very beginning, she was my first and only choice. There is something about her screen presence that feels deeply human. Sometimes cinema begins not with logic, but with a feeling and casting Kiara was exactly that kind of feeling.”

Praising Kiara for her discipline and professionalism, Geetu said, “Her dedication is not loud or performative. It is quiet, disciplined and deeply sincere. She doesn’t just follow directions. She participates in building the emotional architecture of the character. You can see that she has spent time living with the character in her mind long before the camera starts rolling. But what truly sets her apart is her curiosity, which transforms the filmmaking process into a conversation rather than a one-sided direction.”