‘Shah Rukh Khan was my senior in college, I played his mom in 2 films,’ says Sheeba Chaddha: ‘He asked my permission before touching me’

Sheeba shared that being typecast as mother shocked her at first but she made her peace with it claiming if she will rebel, she won't be left with work.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | August 8, 2025 08:38 IST

Zero released in 2018. (Photo: IMDb)

Sheeba Chaddha, famously known for her roles in Badhaai Do and Doctor G, has been in the industry since 1998. Her first film was that of Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala’s Dil Se. She later, shared the screen with him in films Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, Raees and Zero. However, she has an older connection with the actor even before entering the film industry. Both Sheeba and Shah Rukh graduated from the same college: Hans Raj, Delhi. The actor was her senior by 8 years. Yet, she played the role of his mother in Raees (2017) and Zero (2018).

Sheeba, 52, in an interview with Siddharth Kannan recalled, “I almost have no role in Dil Se. It was so small that I have forgotten what the role was. But the fact that I got to shoot in Dalhousie and watch Shah Rukh Khan… Manish Koirala wasn’t there when I went to shoot. In fact, one day, Manisha was not on the set due to some other work and they had to take a very important shot amid the snow. There was a scene of them walking. For this, Mani Ratnam personally came to me and asked me if I was okay to wear Manisha’s costume and walk as her body double.”

While her role in Dil Se was blink-and-miss, she got an opportunity to share the screen with King Khan in his films Raees and Zero, where she played his mother.

She recalled, “I played his mother in Zero and Raees. But, he is my senior from college. I am realising only now that I forgot to remind him that he is my senior from Hans Raj.” She added, “When I shot for Raees, he was in Delhi for some interview where he has gone and said there is this actress in Raees who is playing my mother. Watch out for her, she is wonderful. All this, despite, not having a single scene with him. Bahaut hi alag hi type ke aadmi hai woh (He is very different).”

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Recounting his gentleman behaviour, Sheeba shared, “I remember, we had a hugging scene. It was more like, he was getting beaten up and I had to save him. He was playing a dwarf in that film. He just came to me before the scene and asked, ‘It is okay if I touch you?’ I was like, ‘Yeah theek hai chalo chalo.’ He is very lovely. He knew my name even before I came on set. And that feeling is different.”

In the same interview, she talked about being typecast in mother roles. She shared, “Half the times I am playing mothers to sons who are just 10-12 years younger than me. Television does that a lot. There, even a 30 year old is playing mothers to older guys. In the beginning, I was in shock but I made my peace with it, told myself it is just work, do it and move on and I follow that. If you will rebel, then you will be left with no work.”

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