Neena Gupta is easily counted as one of the supremely talented, evergreen stars of Indian cinema. The diva debuted in 1982 and thereafter, she hasn’t for once paused in her career. Even at the age 64, she continues to rule the silver screen incomparably, and has presented the audience with some of the most versatile roles in films like Badhaai Ho, Uunchai, Sardar Ka Grandson, Goodbye, Lust Stories 2 and others. In her personal life, she is married to Delhi-based accountant, Vivek Mehra. The actress’ only daughter, Masaba Gupta is a reputed fashion designer of the country.
In an interview with Showsha, Neena Gupta talked about some of the difficult choices she had to do early on in her career, just for the bare need of money. The actress remarked how some of these things weren’t good work but she didn’t hesitate to do just so that she could bring the money home. In her words:
“Need ke hisaab se it has changed. Pehle zarurat thi paise ki zyada toh paise ke liye bahut bure bure kaam karne padte the. Kai baar mai bhagwan se prarthna karti thi ki yeh picture release hi na ho.”
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Continuing with her stream of thought, Neena Gupta then revealed how with the change in time and the highs of her career, she can now analyse and reject projects according to her will, something which she couldn’t even dare to think about back then. She expressed:
“Ab mai na keh sakti hu, pehle kabhi na nahi keh sakti thi. Jo script mujhe bahaut achi lagti hai, role bahaut acha lagta hai woh han karti hu jo nahi acha lagta woh nahi karti hu.”
Looking back at her initial years of struggle in the film industry, Neena Gupta also spoke about the drastic change of cities and habits which she had to endure. Since she belonged to Delhi, adjusting to the new city, Bombay was difficult for her, and she remarked how badly she would wish to return home every three months. She narrated:
“Mai toh waise bhi Delhi se aayi thi na toh Bombay waise bhi mushkil shehar hai shuru shuru mein. I think har teen mahine mein I wanted to pack up and go back. I was educated, I said, ‘I will go and do my PhD. I can’t handle this.’ Lekin Bombay aisa shehar hai, maine socha chal kal jaa rahi hu toh aaj raat ko lagega ki kal koi kaam mil jayega. Rok ke rakhta hai.”
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In the concluding segment of the interview, Neena Gupta reflected on her identity as a rebel star or a bold actress. The veteran actress dismissed it all, claiming how she never actually ended up doing any glamorous roles, and instead she did a maximum of innocent roles. However, Neena further remarked how media misrepresented her identity of a single mother as something which is still stigmatised to be beyond the norms of a working society.
What do you think about Neena Gupta’s revelations? Let us know.
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