In 2017, veteran actor Neena Gupta had put up a post, calling herself a ‘good actor’ looking for ‘good parts’ to play. And in 2018, she became part of two good films, Mulk and Badhaai Ho, of which the latter went on to become her first 100-crore film. Her chemistry with Gajraj Rao in Amit Sharma’s Badhaai Ho has been immensely praised and has been cited as the core reason for the monumental success of the film.

“This (2018) was like a new beginning because I (also) had a good role in Mulk… although it was another supporting role. I’m slightly tired of supporting characters. I am the one who needs to be supported now,” she said. “In films, I never got the heroine’s part. Ever. People like Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani, Saeed Mirza made many interesting films with powerful women. But none of them thought of me as the lead heroine. Most of them went to Shabana (Azmi), Smita (Patil) or Deepti (Naval) and I never got the main parts. It was a trend, you know? Something I tried to break by refusing similar roles, but I couldn’t break it. So I lost interest because I stopped working. I was getting horrible offers in films, and so I turned to TV.”

She proved her prowess as an actor via her hit tv shows like Buniyaad, Yatra, Mirza Ghalib, and Saans. But then came the time when the offers of good roles dried up and she had to say yes to playing characters she didn’t want to. “I’ve done far worse. And I’ve prayed to God that those films don’t see the light of the day. I did them because I needed money, and there was no TV at that time. So I’ve played the servant of the house, and there was another film where I was a part of a group of beggars. I think that was the worst role of my career. How I used to cry when I had to go shoot for that film,” she remembered.

“I stopped watching Hindi films because I used to get depressed after watching a role that I thought I could have done well. I’ve just been born (again), so there are many, many directors/actors I would like to work with. Like Anurag Kashyap, Vishal Bhardwaj, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Amit Sharma… again.” Gupta added. “Even after all these years, I feel quite lonely in this business. I still feel that I have no one supporting me… like a Godfather or a godbrother [bhaijaan?], there’s no one to push me towards good roles. Rarely do I know which part to take and which one to reject.”

Currently, slated to star in Chef Vikas Khanna’s directorial debut, The Last Color, she is hopeful about her career in Bollywood. She plays the role of a 70-year-old widow, Noor, in the film who is not allowed to play holi. “I heard him (Khanna), and I immediately knew that the film meant a lot to him,” Gupta said.  

H/T: NDTV