What Actress Neena Gupta Prayed For While Doing Unsuitable Roles Early In Her Career

Neena Gupta, debuting around four decades ago with the film Saath Saath in 1982, is now one of the sought-after actresses in Bollywood. After hits like Badhaai Ho and Vadh, the actress garnered headlines for her role in the superhit OTT series, Panchayat. She was last seen in the Kaagaz 2. It starred Anupam Kher and Darshan Kumar in the lead roles.

Neena Gupta is now enjoying a plethora of opportunities in Bollywood and was no more than a struggler in the Bollywood industry a few years ago. The actress recently revealed the difficulties she faced during the initial years of her career. Neena Gupta admitted that she had to do anything and everything for money in the early days including the roles which she never liked.

In an interview with News18 Shosha, the ‘Badhaai Ho’ star recalled how she wanted to pack her bags and leave Mumbai every three months. The 64-year-old actress said that Bombay felt like a difficult city for her to adjust initially.

“I will go and do my PhD. I can’t handle it. But Bombay is such a city, I thought let’s go tomorrow, then I used to feel that I might get some work tomorrow. It keeps me in check. This happened not once but many times.” said Neena Gupta.

In the conversation, the actress admitted that now she has the liberty to say no to the rules offered but there was a time when she used to do anything and everything in the film industry. “Earlier it was important to have money. To get more money, one had to do very bad things. Many times I would pray to God that this picture should not be released. But today I can say no to such roles, I could never say no before.” said Neena Gupta. She claims that she now only accepts films with good scripts to her liking.

The actress is often credited with tags like ‘Bold’ and ‘Rebel’ due to her outspoken nature and strong personality. To this, the actress wonders about such names. Neena Gupta said that she has also played the role of a poor person. At the same time, she claims that she has not done any strong or glamorous role in her life. “I think they say this because the media has created an image of me due to being a single mother,” said Neena Gupta. She humorously took a dig at these notions and said that after her death she is pretty sure that the media will run the headline, ‘Bold Neena Gupta is no more’. “They will not leave me even then. So okay, it does not matter to me” said Neena Gupta.

Neena Gupta will be next seen in the third season of Panchayat. It will be released on Amazon Prime Video on May 28.