Parineeti Chopra recalls sobbing for three hours after leaving her baby for work

Actor Parineeti Chopra has recalled sobbing for three hours the first time she left her baby to return to work. In an exclusive interview with India Today, she said motherhood has deepened her understanding of guilt, social pressure and the emotions in Shaque: Trust No One.

In Short

• Parineeti Chopra opened up on returning to work after childbirth
• She said that her son was safe with family, but the emotional weight remained
• Chopra said mothers face both biological instincts and social pressure

Actor Parineeti Chopra, who embraced motherhood last year, has now opened up about the intense guilt that came with the first time she had to leave her son after months of being with him around the clock. Calling the experience "crippling physical pain," Chopra said motherhood has also given her a new, deeply personal perspective on the emotions explored in her new show, Shaque: Trust No One (2026).

In an exclusive conversation with India Today, Chopra spoke about the guilt many mothers carry when they return to work and why she believes it is both biological and societal.

“I remember the very first time that I had to leave my baby, and this was after many, many months of postpartum, being at home 24/7, day and night,” she said, adding, “When I left him for the first time, I don’t remember that flight to Bombay. I don’t remember it. I don’t know when I walked through the airport, boarded the flight, landed, reached home. I have no memory. I was only sobbing for three hours.”

For Chopra, the emotion went beyond what is commonly described as “mom guilt”. “I thought I would never be able to work again. I would never be able to do anything again. It’s not guilt. It’s crippling physical pain that you feel leaving your baby,” she said.

The actor pointed out that the situation itself did not necessarily warrant the guilt. Her baby was safe at home, surrounded by family. Yet, the emotional weight remained. “The baby’s fine. They’re nothing to do with your absence. The family’s fine. Everybody’s having a blast,” she said, highlighting that her family would even insist that she stay away for longer. “But the mom guilt is crazy,” she added.

Chopra believes that the pressure is not only personal but also rooted in the expectations society places on mothers. “I think it’s, of course, biological, but it’s also societal,” she said.

“There are a lot of women who will come up to me and say, ‘So, where’s your baby?’ And I’m like, ‘He’s at home.’ And that’s just not allowed,” the actor added.

Chopra questioned the expectation that motherhood should automatically mean putting one’s professional or personal life on hold. “How can you be out here working when your baby’s trying to fend for himself?” she said, adding, “It’s so sad that we cannot apparently live a normal life again once we have a baby.”

For Chopra and her husband, politician Raghav Chadha, changing that perception has become a conscious choice. “I think Raghav and I are making a very conscious effort to change that narrative, and we want to be an example to anybody who would like to take from our journey,” she said.

According to Chopra, mom guilt is not something that necessarily disappears with time. “I don’t think that mom guilt is emotional. It will never go,” she said, drawing a parallel with her own relationship with her mother.

“Even when I’m 90 years old, my mom will ask me, ‘Have you eaten today?’ That will never end, and I will never let it end,” the actor added.

Interestingly, Chopra revealed that she had not yet become a mother when she shot the show. She was nearing the end of filming when she discovered she was pregnant. “Thank God I had not become a mother yet while I was shooting,” she said, adding, “I was almost finishing up my shoot when I found out that I was pregnant.”

Looking back at the material now, however, Chopra says the scenes affect her in an entirely different way. “Today, when I look at this show, and today, when I think about all those scenes, it is unbearable. That pain is unbearable, unfathomable for any human being, and a mother is just on another level,” she said.

Chopra and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Member of Parliament Raghav Chadha got married on September 24, 2023 in a traditional ceremony at The Leela Palace in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The intimate wedding was attended by close family members, film industry colleagues, and senior political figures.

Two years after their wedding, the couple welcomed their first child, a baby boy, on October 19, 2025. Announcing the birth via a joint Instagram statement, the couple wrote, "He's finally here! Our baby boy (sic)." Chopra and Chadha had earlier shared their pregnancy announcement in August 2025.

Shaque: Trust No One has 7 episodes and is available for streaming on Netflix.

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