On Mother's Day, Neena Gupta Says When Only Moms Are Glorified, It Puts 'Pressure on Fathers' | Exclusive

In 1989 at the age 30, veteran actor Neena Gupta had given birth to her daughter, fashion designer, entrepreneur and actor Masaba Gupta, out of wedlock while she was in a relationship with former West Indies cricketer, Vivian Richards. She raised Masaba as a single mother. Over the years, Neena has been very vocal about her struggles as a single parent and earning her own livelihood without depending on anyone else for emotional and financial support. In her memoir titled Sach Kahun Toh, she even revealed that late actor Satish Kaushik offered to marry her when she was pregnant with Masaba.

On the occasion of Mother’s Day, News18 exclusively catches up with Neena as she talks about motherhood and how it has shaped her life. “Motherhood is the best thing that has happened to me and I’m very grateful to god about it. I’ve such a great daughter who respects me,” she tells us. Talking about how her relationship with Masaba stands out from many other mothers and daughters of today, Neena says, “Mothers should be respected and loved. It’s a very important thing. Sometimes, the respect fades away and you tend to take them for granted. So when Masaba gives me that respect, it feels really good. I feel very honoured and lucky to be a mother whose child respects her.”

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With her personal and professional choices, the 63-year-old has defied the age-old norms pertaining to sexism and has established herself as a trailblazing feminist. And she believes that in the process of glorifying mothers, fathers are unintentionally made to take the backseat. She points out, “Everything is challenging in today’s day and age. Even fathers are under a lot of pressure because they too fear losing their jobs and the burden of earning a livelihood is on them. Not just motherhood, everything in this world is challenging.” The Badhaai Ho (2018) and Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (2020) actor adds, “We’re living in very difficult times. Sometimes, I think that when we try to only glorify and talk about mothers, that puts a lot of pressure and stress on fathers.”

As we speak of mothers, Neena is reminded of another actor-mother, Soni Razdan, and sheds light on the special rapport she shares with her. The duo has collaborated on films such as Mandi (1983), Trikal (1985), Daddy (1989) and Sardar Ka Grandson (2021). And over the years, their onscreen dynamic has translated to their real lives. Quiz Neena about her friendship and camaraderie with Soni and she remarks, “Actresses can be friends. Why can’t they? I’ve friends who are actresses. Soni is an actor and we’re in the same age group. We could be competitors but I’ve been friends with her since the past 35 years.”

The actor, who will soon be seen in Lust Stories 2, in an interview with News18 a while back, spoke about the equation she shares with her daughter and stated, “Masaba and I don’t live together. But we keep calling each other. So many people express surprise when they come to know that we call each other up two-three times a day. A guy once told me that he speaks to his mother only once a week! But there’s no hard and fast rule that we need to talk to each other three times. If Masaba is busy, we don’t speak as much. Both of us are extremely busy with work but we also make time for each other.”

Neena further talked about not letting Masaba pursue a career in acting but when she watched her in Masaba Masaba for the first time, she was pleasantly surprised. “I didn’t know that she could act so well! Most actors become better with each project. But Masaba was amazing right since her first. I was very impressed. I think she has it in her and she should do more roles of different flavours. Why should she waste her talent?” she said at the time.