Veteran actor Neena Gupta recalled a phase in her career when financial need led her to take on roles that didn’t align with her age, including playing Feroz Khan’s elder sister despite being nearly two decades younger than him. She also recalled undergoing unpleasant experiences in her career where she had to face distasteful remarks and humiliating experience on sets to get work.
Speaking on Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast, Neena revisited her role in the 1992 film Yalgaar. “I played the role of an elder sister. I did all those roles for money. I didn’t have any. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have done them,” she said candidly.
During the conversation, Neena also addressed a long-standing reality in the film industry: older male actors continue to be cast opposite much younger women, while the reverse is rarely seen.
She attributed this imbalance to societal norms. “Our society accepts a 60-year-old man marrying a 20-year-old woman, but the opposite isn’t acceptable. Films reflect what already exists in society,” she explained.
According to her, such stories rarely make it to the screen because producers and financiers don’t believe they will work commercially. “This is a business. Producers think such films won’t run. How many women marry much younger men? If society doesn’t accept it, how will films be made on it?” she said.
When Neena Gupta was asked to wear a padded bra
She also shared an early experience from her career while shooting a song for a Subhash Ghai film Khalnayak, ‘Choli ke peeche’ where she was asked to wear a padded bra to fit the visual brief. She recalled that the director asked the costume designer standing next to her to ‘make her appear fuller’. She added that the distasteful comment left her angry at the point.
“At that time, I felt very angry and thought it was inappropriate to say something like that,” she admitted. “But now I feel he was just doing his job. He had a certain image in mind for the character in the song, and he expressed it plainly. I was new then — today I understand it differently.”
Story continues below this ad
Neena was asked to change Saans’ ending
Neena said that while directing the television show Saans, she had originally wrote an ending where her character, Priya Kapoor, chooses to live independently after her husband’s infidelity instead of accepting him back.
“But when Star Plus conducted a survey, the audience wanted her to forgive him and reunite. That’s how society is — so we had to change the ending,” she recalled.
“Nothing has changed for women in society”
In the same podcast, Neena Gupta also spoke about how patriarchy and deep-rooted prejudices continue to shape women’s lives within their own homes.
Story continues below this ad
She pointed out that the idea of finding a “virgin bride” still holds significance for many men. “They want a virgin wife. What has changed now? Are you talking about India? Who says that people are open? A lot of things have not changed in our country. Women still touch their father-in-law’s feet after putting pallu over their heads. You and I are minorities, we are not the real India. People like us who dress well and talk nicely are not India.”
She also shared an example from within her extended family. “I’ll give you an example. A relative on my father’s side got married to a guy in Mumbai who worked in a big financial company. Once my father called the boy, the girl, and her family to his house to talk to the couple because the girl refused to live with the guy and his family in Mumbai. The girl worshipped Sai Baba, so she put his picture in their room, but her mother-in-law didn’t allow her to keep that picture and told her to put up the picture of the guru that they worship,” she shared.
Neena on her relationship with Vivian Richards
Neena also spoke about much-discussed relationship with West Indies cricketer Sir Vivian Richards. The two share a daughter, Masaba Gupta, though they never married.
When asked whether their relationship was rooted in love or was more casual, Neena responded with a laugh, “Go ask him. Everyone is afraid to ask him. Why all of you ask only me?” She then added, “I think we were in love. Although we were together for only a short while, the time we spent together was wonderful.”
Story continues below this ad
While she said she has never considered the relationship “wrong” and still cherishes the time they shared, Neena acknowledged that raising a child alone is extremely challenging and advised others against making a similar choice. “It’s not good for the child either,” she said.
She added, “But, at that time, I was blind in love. In such a scenario, who listens to others? Who stops to reflect? Who listens to their parents? It was my decision to have a child. Then I asked him if he was okay with me giving birth to his child, and he said yes,” noting that Vivian was also comfortable acknowledging Masaba publicly as his daughter.
