Bollywood's veteran actress, Neena Gupta is an inspiration to many. Her life was nothing like a bed of roses as she had to deal with a lot of criticism and judgements for her decisions. The actress fell in love with West Indies cricketer, Vivian Richards, and got pregnant with their first child, Masaba Gupta, out of wedlock. She broke stereotypes by raising her baby alone, back in the day when being a single mom was a taboo.
Neena Gupta has always been vocal about her personal life and raising her daughter, Masaba as a single mother. Now, in a recent interview, the actress recalled the time when she got to know about her pregnancy, and dialled her partner, Vivian Richards, to inform him about the same. Neena also revealed that her family didn’t support her decision initially, but her father eventually became one of her biggest supporters.
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In an interview with Humans of Bombay, Neena Gupta took a trip down the memory lane and recalled the moment when she had told her then-boyfriend, Vivian Richards about her pregnancy. Talking about the same, she said that he was happy to hear the news and told her to have the child. However, people around her warned her that she wouldn't be able to raise the child single-handedly, but she didn't listen to anyone. In her words:
“I was not very giddy with joy. I was happy because I loved him. I called him and asked him that if you don’t want this child then I won’t have it. He said, ‘No no I would love for you to have this child’. Everyone told me, ‘No, no, no how can you do it alone?’ because he was already married and I couldn’t marry him and go to Antigua to live there. But what happens is jawani mein you are blind. (You are blind in your youth) When you are in love, you don’t listen to anybody. No children will listen to their parents, and I was the same.”
Time and again, Masaba Gupta has talked about having a strained relationship with her father, Vivian Richards till she was 18 years old. Now, Neena revealed that she never tried to hide the identity of her daughter, Masaba's father and frankly told her why she didn’t have a conventional upbringing. Talking about the same, Neena said:
“We (Vivian and Neena) were in touch sometimes, sometimes not. But I told her Masaba everything frankly. It’s important to tell the child the truth otherwise he or she will find it from somewhere else. So, it’s better to tell her and let her adapt.”
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Being a single mother was no cakewalk for Neena Gupta, but she managed to raise Masaba alone. Apart from balancing her work and personal life, Neena also had to deal with people's judgements. However, in the same interview, Neena revealed that her father was her biggest supporter and said:
“It was very tough but my thing is that I am that kind of a person that if I have decided something, then I will do it on my own. I never asked for any financial or emotional support. My Dad supported me the most. Absolutely. He was the man in my life.”
On the work front, Neena was last seen in the film, Uunchai.
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