Neena Gupta is an Indian actress and television director. Known for her work in both art-house and commercial films, she won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing a young widow in Woh Chokri. In 2018, she saw career resurgence for starring as a middle-aged pregnant woman in the comedy-drama Badhaai Ho, for which she won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress and received a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. Gupta's television appearances include a leading role in the drama series Saans and as the host of the Indian version of the television quiz show The Weakest Link, named Kamzor Kadii Kaun.
Gupta has made appearances in several international films, such as Gandhi, in which she played the niece of Mahatma Gandhi, and Merchant Ivory films, The Deceivers, Mirza GhalibIn Custody, and Cotton Mary. She also made an impression in Indian parallel cinema such as Mandi, Rihaee, Drishti and Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda. These performances further established her profile in Indian movies alongside her arthouse film contemporaries Rekha, Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil and Dimple Kapadia. Despite this, Gupta never had a major commercial hit and found it difficult to find more dramatic roles: "I made a few mistakes in the beginning of my career. I didn't have anybody to guide me. I didn't have a secretary. I didn't call up directors, or meet people asking for roles. Also, because of the media, there is a perception that I am a strong woman. Unfortunately, in our society, that goes against you. So, I got negative, vampish roles only. Plain and simple female roles never come my way because of my image, which is very wrong. My personal life got typecast into my professional life." Her appearance in Hindi movies was especially noted in the satirical movie, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro in which she played the role of a secretary to Pankaj Kapoor. She also starred along with Madhuri Dixit in Khalnayak ; she was featured in the popular song "Choli Ke Peeche" in the movie. She has made television movies, Lajwanti and Bazar Sitaram, which won the 1993 National Film Award for Best First Non-Feature Film. In 1994, Gupta's breakthrough came in the acclaimed drama Woh Chokri as a recently widowed daughter-in-law; this performance won her a National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2017, Gupta made headlines when she shared a post on Instagram asking for work: "I live in Mumbai and working as a good actor looking for good parts to play." Fed up with the lack of roles being written for middle-aged women in Bollywood, Gupta later reflected, "After that Instagram post, I got many offers -- five, in fact, and I accepted all of them. There is no shame in saying you don't have work." One of the offers she accepted was Amit Sharma's comedy-drama Badhaai Ho, which emerged as the 9th highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2018. Her performance as a middle-aged pregnant mother earned widespread critical acclaim, with various critics and publications citing her performance as the film's highlight and one of the best of her career. Rajeev Masand credited Gupta for bringing "real empathy" to the part, while Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV described her portrayal as "outstandingly measured." Acting opposite Ayushmann Khurana as her son, Gupta received various accolades for her performance including the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress, the Screen Award for Best Actress, and the BFJA Award for Best Supporting Actor - Female. At 60, she became the second-eldest Best Actress nominee in Filmfare Award history after Sharmila Tagore. Gupta will next appear in Rohit Shetty's action filmSooryavanshi, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari's sports comedy-drama Panga, and will reunite with Ayushmann Khurana for Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan.
Television career
Her big break on television came with Khandaan, Yatra, Gulzar's Mirza Ghalib, a TV miniseries, followed by Shyam Benegal's Bharat Ek Khoj and later Dard, Gumraah, Shrimaan Shrimati, Saans, , Chitthi, Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin. She has also acted in the TV serial, Buniyaad. She also hosted the Indian version of the TV series The Weakest Link, Kamzor Kadii Kaun and appeared in Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin which gave her considerable popularity. She has directed successful TV series, such as Saans, Siski in and Kyun Hota Hai Pyarrr. She played the role of Shubha, one of the four women main leads in Ladies Special, a daily soap on Sony TV. She is now seen in Dil se Diya Vachan as a doctor by profession and mother-in-law of the lead character Nandani which airs on Zee TV She also ran a theatre production company, 'Sahaj Productions' with actor, Rajendra Gupta, and acted as well as produced the Hindi play Soorya Ki Antim Kiran Se Soorya Ki Paheli Kiran Tak. She has also had some roles in Rishtey which was aired on Zee TV during 1999-2000.
Personal life
She was in a highly publicised relationship with former West IndiancricketerVivian Richards in the 1980s, with whom she has a daughter, Masaba Gupta, a designer. Neena never married Richards and chose to raise Masaba as a single-mother in India. It was at that time she chose to move the family from New Delhi to Mumbai. On 15 July 2008, Neena married New Delhi-based Vivek Mehra, a chartered accountant and Partner with PwC India in a secret ceremony in the United States.
