Actor Neena Gupta says she is finally in a happy place, where she has found acceptance for who she is, and the roles she is offered aren’t based on the clothes she wears. The veteran, who has been acting in films and TV shows since the 80s, said the intense media scrutiny she underwent in the initial phase of her career reflected in the way industry started looking at her.
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Because Neena never tried to “fit in”, she said makers didn’t really know where to place her — as a traditional Indian woman or a straight up glamorous actor. The one who was lost in the confusion, was Neena herself.
“Media had painted me as bold, which meant a vamp. I always got negative roles, even after Saans. In my personal life, I am well dressed. I wear shorts also because I feel hot. They would say I am not a ‘conventional’ looking woman in my personal life. If that’s the case, then will you choose doctors to play doctors on screen? An actor’s job is to do everything, anything. I have done a Panchayat and a Masaba Masaba as well.
“Fighting this tag was very frustrating for many years. It truly was. It was important back then to get typecast. Even on TV, I played a mother and did glamorous roles as well. I refused to follow any trend, which is why I suffered. Not anymore, now I am happy, satisfied and thankful,” the actor told indianexpress.com.
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Neena said this battle followed her right till her career turnaround National Award-winning comedy drama Badhaai Ho, where she played a woman in her 50s, who gets pregnant. She later got to know that actor Ayushmann Khurrana had reservations regarding her casting as he felt she was “too hot”, but the makers got convinced only after they watched her in a short film, which featured her in a part which was opposite her image.
“He had said don’t take Neena because she is too hot! But in life, nothing goes waste. I had done a short film called Khujli with Jackie Shroff. It was a two-day work. When Ayushmann said don’t take her, someone showed them the short and that’s when they were convinced, I can look like a middle-class housewife.”
The actor is currently gearing up for her latest drama Uunchai, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani and Anupam Kher. The film is directed by Sooraj Barjatya– a director Neena said she had been chasing since his debut film Maine Pyaar Kiya. “It was impossible to reach the Barjatyas! Initially I used to try a lot because everyone wanted to work with Rajshri. It was very difficult to meet Sooraj then. But I used to keep coming to Rajshri office.
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“No autos are allowed here, so I had to take taxis and come at a time when I had very little money. In the 90s, I was doing projects which were different from his world but felt he was an amazing director. He has to offer what most of our audience wants. To now be a part of his film, finally, feels life coming full circle,” she added.
Written by Sunil Gandhi and Abhishek Dixit, Uunchai also stars Sarika, Parineeti Chopra, Nafisa Ali and Danny Denzongpa. Jointly produced by Rajshri Productions, Boundless Media and Mahaveer Jain Films, Uunchai is scheduled to release on November 11.
