'It wasn't a happy time, Ibrahim was 3-yr-old': Sharmila Tagore reveals Amrita Singh needed time to 'cool down' after divorce with Saif

The eighth season of Karan Johar's 'Koffee With Karan 8' saw Bollywood's mother-son duo, Sharmila Tagore and Saif Ali Khan. Though Saif Ali Khan has been on the couch before and faced Karan's questions. It was Sharmila Tagore's debut on koffee couch. The duo were at their candid best and spoke about Saif's marriage with Amrita and also how Amrita coped with divorce, Sharmila spoke about her grandkids Taimur, Sara Ali Khan, Jeh Ali Khan, Ibrahim Ali Khan.

Sharmila Tagore spoke about Amrita and said she is a great storyteller and she is a fun-loving person. Saif heaped praise on Amrita and said that she is the mother of kids and he respects her a lot.

How did Amrita and Saif meet?

During the show, host Karan Johar said this about Saif Ali Khan and his ex-wife Amrita Singh, "There is one place that he reached and never left. It was Amrita Singh's house. He reached there was the first time and you never left."

Karan chimed, "And Soha (Saif's sister) tells me that eventually when it culminated in marriage, she was 13 and a classmate told her, your brother just got married."

Saif Ali Khan spoke about the marriage and said, "I remember telling my mother."

Sharmila Tagore said, "Actually I was visiting Mumbai for something and Saif came to me, to meet me. And he said I have something to tell you and he told me. And then of course, I don't know what I was doing but I was quiet and he says Amma you're quiet and your colour is changing and you are looking different. And I told him we would talk about it later. And then he left then I rang up Tiger and told him and there was a long silence on his part and then we left it at that. Then I said, I would like to meet her. The next day I called Amrita and we had tea and chatted, but still quite shocked."

How does one suddenly get married at that age," Karan Johar asked Saif. To which, the actor replied, "It was kind of like running away from home in a sense. I don't remember so many things going on and I found a kind of security and an idea that it feels great. I thought I could make a home out of that."

Saif and Amrita are similar

Sharmila Tagore added, "They were both very similar. They were very funny. Of them when they used to talk, there used to be a lot of laughter, mimicking other people, tearing somebody into bits in a funny way. As you know he is good at mimicking and she is a great storyteller. They looked very happy together."

Sharmila was hurt when Saif broke the news of his marriage to Amrita

He mentioned how hurt Sharmila was after he told her that he was already married. "A big tear fell out of her eye and she started crying. She said, 'You've really hurt me'", said Saif. In similar lines, Sharmila said, "Parents have brought you up and been with you, it's a good thing to share things with parents. Every aspect of your life."

Sharmila Tagore spoke about Saif-Amrita's divorce

She said, "When you are together for such a long time and you have such lovely children, then no break up is easy. And I know it is difficult to have harmony at that stage as everybody is hurt and that stage is not nice, but I tried. But that's water under the bridge. She (Amrita) needed time to cool down and they worked it out together. It's not just staying away, there were many things involved. It wasn't a happy time for us as Ibrahim was just 3 and we were fond of the children and especially Tiger [Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi]. He was very fond of Ibrahim and he would say 'That's a good lad."

Saif Ali Khan on Amrita Singh

"Unfortunately, doing it at 20 is young, and things change, but it was great support, she was wonderful to me. She is the mother of two of my children. I have a good relationship with her and it's all respectful now," he said, and added, "It's very bad when these things don't work out, only for the children, and it's not something you want for them..."

Further adding, "We were doubly deprived to lose Amrita and the two kids. So, it's just not him (Saif), we also had to adjust to all that."

Saif Ali Khan secretly married Amrita Singh in 1991. Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh parted ways in 2004. They are the parents of Sara Ali Khan and Ibrahim Ali Khan.