Neena Gupta on lack of strong roles for women her age

Seasoned actress Neena Gupta has been working in Bollywood for close to three decades now, but it was the thunderous success of filmmaker Amit Ravindrenath Sharma’s family entertainer Badhaai Ho (2018) which changed her fortune completely and brought her the kind of recognition she always craved for in her acting career.

However, the actress feels that there is a sheer lack of strong characters for women her age. “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 cannot be the heroine. Men (of my age) can still do main leads. Women cannot,” she told a publication.

Gupta, however, added that she is content with what she has. “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.”

Most recently seen in Ayushmann Khurrana’s LGBT themed film Shubh Mangal Zyaada Saavdhan (2020), Neena Gupta has been quarantining with husband Vivek Mehra in Mukteshwar amid the lockdown.

The couple had travelled to the hill station for a two-day picnic but before they could return to Mumbai, India went into complete lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic. “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,” she signed off.