NEENA GUPTA Was Born on 4th June 1959 into a middle-class Delhi family young Neena had all the riveting charms of the so-called ‘ Dilli vali ladki’. Her parents R N Gupta and Shakuntala Gupta wanted to make their daughter an IAS officer but the future paved a totally different way for their little girl. From a very young age itself, Neena portrayed signs of women of character and perseverance.
Education
Neena Gupta completed her primary education from Lawrence School, Sanawar and got her post-graduation in Sanskrit from Delhi University (DU). After her post-graduation she decided to take a road which was a rare one for middle class girls like her. She blew her parents IAS dreams to dust and joined the National School of Drama. This was the starting of a very daring journey for the jaunty young girl from Delhi who wanted to carve a path from nothing. Initially she was given the role of men due to her 5’3” height figures. But Neena was not one to supple easily. She performed better than most of the prerogative actors. The real sense of movies daunted on her when she saw the great drama teacher Ebrahim Alkazi’s play at Kirori Mal College in Delhi.
Film Career
At the age of 23 she started her film career with a small role in Saath Saath directed by Raman Kumar. Later on she showed her face in movies like Gandhi and Trikal. During the 1980’s she became penchant about working on television soap operas which were gaining wide appraisal during those times. Two of her renowned works were Khandam and Buniyaad.
At the age of 34 she won the National award for Bazar Sitaram, a documentary which she directed. In 1994 she won National award for best supporting actress for her role in Woh Chhokri. Four years later she acted in Saans which she wrote and directed.
Personal Life
At the age of 30 she became pregnant and gave birth to a baby girl named Masaba, eventually gossips started rising up as Neena was unmarried during this time. Later on, a tabloid got access to Masaba’s birth certificate and declared the West Indies cricketer Vivian Richards as her Father. The relationship never transcended into marriage. At the age of 49 she married a Delhi based chartered accountant Vivek Mehra. As a result work dried up as the industry thought she shifted to Delhi.
Even at the age of 58 Neena Gupta was as jaunty as ever. And she again made it to the spotlight with her controversial tweet asking for work.
Second Innings (Bollywood Re-entry)
Her comeback to the limelight was a one worth admiring. She won the film fare award for playing a middle aged women in ‘Badhaai Ho’ in 2018. She also won praises for her performance in other works such as Mulk, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, Panga etc. In 2020 she starred as herself in the Netflix series Masaba Masaba. At the age of 62, she published her autobiography ‘Sach Kahun Tho’( To Tell the Truth).
Well in a nutshell we can say that this lady here can be described as a true fighter who actually spearheaded the conservative approach which prevailed in the Indian cinema and made a name for herself from scratch. She can undoubtedly be portrayed as a role model for aspiring actresses and actors. Neena Gupta’s life has taught us many things but the most important two of all these are that perseverance and patience can help you achieve anything deemed impossible by others.
