Veteran Bollywood actor Neena Gupta who is currently under quarantine with husband Vivek Mehra in Mukteshwarhas said that she knows she is “not Amitabh Bachchan”. Neena said that she earned fame only recently with Badhaai Ho, despite having worked for almost 30 years in the industry.
In an interview with India.com, Neena said, “I am not Amitabh Bachchan. People noticed me after Badhaai Ho. I think right now, I am known as a good character actor. I have not got that kind of fame. There are very few roles for women. I can’t be the heroine. Men (of my age) can still do main leads. Women can’t.” She further said that strong roles are rarely written for women, especially at her age.
However, the veteran actress said that she is “quite content”. She also has a piece of advice for every women. “Your plan B and your dependency should be on your money. The money will help you with any problem. Every woman should have her own money. That’s the plan B (for a woman) before anything else,” Neena Gupta said.
Neena Gupta started her second innings after she featured as Ayushmann Khurrana’s mother in the critically and commercially successful 2018 film Badhaai Ho.
On a related note, the actress celebrated her birthday in the small scenic town of Mukteshwar in Uttarakhand. The actress turned 61 earlier this week. Talking about spending the entire lockdown in Mukteshwar, Neena said, “We were very fortunate that we are at such a beautiful place, have a small house here, our staff is here. It’s a small place so grocery is also not a problem. We go on walks and our compound is quite nice. It’s just a matter of chance that we came here just two days before the lockdown and now no one can come or go out of this place.”
