Neena Gupta

"Nina Gupta" redirects here. For the fictional character, see Nina Gupta (EastEnders).

This article is about the actress. For the mathematician, see Neena Gupta (mathematician).

Neena Gupta
Gupta in 2020
Born	Calcutta (now Kolkata), West Bengal, India
Education	National School of Drama
Alma mater	University of Delhi (BA, MA, MPhil)
Occupations	Actress television director
Years active	1982–present
Spouses	Amlan Kusum Ghose ​ ​ (m. 1977;div. 1978)​ Vivek Mehra ​ (m. 2008)​
Partner	Viv Richards (1980s)
Children	Masaba Gupta

Neena Gupta is an Indian actress and television director who works in Hindi films and television along with few Malayalam films. She has received several awards including three National Film Awards, a Filmfare Award and two Filmfare OTT Awards.

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 (1994) and for Uunchai (2022). 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 Award for Best Actress (Critics) and received a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Gupta's television appearances include a leading role in the drama series Saans (1999) and as the host of the Indian version of the television quiz show The Weakest Link , named Kamzor Kadii Kaun. ^[4] In June 2021, publisher Penguin Random House India released her autobiography Sach Kahun Toh. ^[5]

Early life and education

Neena Gupta was born in Kolkata, India to R. N. Gupta, a LL.B.-graduate and an officer in the State Trading Corporation of India, and Shakuntala Devi Gupta ( née Kinra) a former teacher with double masters degrees in Sanskrit and political science.

She grew up in the Karol Bagh area of New Delhi, doing her elementary schooling at the Bal Bharti School and secondary schooling at Vidya Bhawan. She went on to get her Bachelor of Arts from Janki Devi Memorial College, Delhi University and her Master of Arts in Sanskrit from Delhi University. She also earned an MPhil from the same university for her thesis on 'Stage Techniques in Sanskrit Drama: Theory and Practice'. Midway through her PhD in Sanskrit, she gave up her research due to difference of opinion between her guide and her.

She was active in the theatre scene while at university, forming a close friendship with fellow actor-director Satish Kaushik, who encouraged her to follow his lead and join the National School of Drama. Gupta enrolled at NSD in 1977, studying under the tutelage of such greats as Ebrahim Alkazi and B.V. Karanth and graduated top of her class in 1980. Her contemporaries at the institute include Alok Nath and Annu Kapoor. ^[6]

Career

Film career

Gupta has made appearances in several international films, such as Gandhi (1982), in which she played the niece of Mahatma Gandhi, and Merchant Ivory films, The Deceivers (1988), Mirza Ghalib (1989), In Custody (1993), and Cotton Mary (1999). She also made an impression in Indian parallel cinema such as Mandi (1983), Rihaee (1988), Drishti (1990) and Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda (1992). 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: ^[7]

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. ^[7]

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. ^[8] She also starred along with Madhuri Dixit in Khalnayak (1993); she was featured in the popular song "Choli Ke Peeche" in the movie.

Gupta starred in several television films, including Lajwanti (1993) and Bazar Sitaram (1993), the latter of which won her the National Film Award for Best First Non-Feature Film of a Director. The following year, she achieved her breakthrough as a newly widowed daughter-in-law in the acclaimed drama Woh Chokri (1994), which won her the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Career resurgence (2017–present)

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." ^[7]

One of the offers she accepted was Amit Sharma's comedy-drama Badhaai Ho (2018), in which she starred alongside Gajraj Rao, Ayushmann Khurrana and Sanya Malhotra. The film, which told the story of a middle-aged couple who get pregnant, much to the disappointment of their children, saw her play a middle-aged pregnant mother, It received widespread critical acclaim upon release, with various critics and publications citing Gupta's performance as the film's highlight and one of the best of her career. Film critic Rajeev Masand credited Gupta for bringing "real empathy" to the part, while Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV described her portrayal as "outstandingly measured." ^{[9] [10]} For her performance, she received several accolades including the Filmfare Award for Best Actress (Critics), the Screen Award for Best Actress (Critics), and the BFJA Award for Best Supporting Actress (Hindi). ^[11] At 60, she became the second-eldest Best Actress nominee in Filmfare Award history after Sharmila Tagore. Badhaai Ho also emerged as a major commercial success at the box-office, grossing over ₹221.44 crore (US$32.38 million) worldwide, thus ranking as the ninth-highest-grossing Hindi film of the year. ^[12]

In 2020, Gupta appeared in Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari's sports comedy-drama Panga , and reunited with Khurana for the social romantic comedy-drama Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan , earning positive reviews for her performance in both films, earning her first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. Gupta appeared alongside Manoj Bajpayee and Sakshi Tanwar in the thriller Dial 100. ^[13]

In 2021, Gupta starred in the black comedy-drama Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar alongside Parineeti Chopra, Arjun Kapoor, Jaideep Ahlawat and Raghubir Yadav, as the wife of Yadav's character. Her performance, and the film, received critical acclaim and earned her a second consecutive nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Television career

Her big break on television came with Khandan (1985), Yatra (1986), Gulzar's Mirza Ghalib (1987), a TV miniseries, followed by Shyam Benegal's Bharat Ek Khoj (1988) and later Dard (1994), Gumraah (1995), Shrimaan Shrimati (1995), Saans , Saat Phere – Saloni Ka Safar (2005), Chitthi (2003), Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin (2004). 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 (1999), Siski in (2000) 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.

She made an appearance in Amazon Prime's Panchayat as Manju Devi Pradhan.

She has also been a part of Masaba Masaba , a Netflix show based on her and her daughter Masaba Gupta, who is a designer by profession.^{[ citation needed ]}

Personal life

Neena Gupta and Vivek Mehra in 2013

Gupta married Amlan Kusum Ghose, studying at IIT-Delhi, while still a bachelor's student. The marriage was short-lived with both mutually and amicably deciding to part ways within a year. ^[14] She was briefly engaged to Shaarangdev Pandit, the son of Pandit Jasraj. ^{[15] [16] [17]} She was in a relationship with former West Indies cricketer Vivian Richards in the late 1980s. Though they never married, they have a daughter named Masaba Gupta born in 1989. ^[18] Since Richards was already married, Gupta decided to raise Masaba on her own as a single mother. In 2008, Gupta married New Delhi–based chartered accountant Vivek Mehra in a private ceremony in the United States. ^{[19] [20] [21] [22]}

Filmography

Films

Key

†	Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1982	Saath Saath	Neena
	Aadat Se Majboor
	Gandhi	Abha
	Yeh Nazdeekiyan
	Jaipur Junction
	Aadharshila
1983	Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron	Priya
	Mandi	Vasanti
1984	Utsav	Madanika
	Laila	Salma
1985	Agnidaah	Sunita
	Trikaal	Milagrenia
1987	Taniya
	Susman	Mandira
1988	Rihaee	Sukhi
	The Deceivers	Gopal's Wife
1989	Batwara	Devan's wife
1990	Kaarnama	Vyjayanti
	Swarg	Naina
	Drishti	Revati
1991	Aadhi Mimansa		Odia /Hindi Film
	Vasthuhara	Damayanthi	Malayalam film
1992	Aham	Mother Nobble	Malayalam film
	Zulm Ki Hukumat	Yeshwant's wife
	Balwaan	Ratna
	Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda	Satti
	Yalgaar	Kaushalya Kumar
	Angaar	Majid's Wife	(uncredited)
	Kal Ki Awaz	Mrs. Fahmida Nooruddin Ahmed
1993	Khalnayak	Champa Didi
	Veerta	Uma
	Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee	Street Singer	(in song "Shayarana Si Hai Zindagi")
	Bhagavad Gita	Drupadi
	Aankhen	Chief minister's wife	(uncredited)
1994	Woh Chokri	Geeta Devi
	Jazbaat	Maya
	Eena Meena Deeka
	Sone Ki Sita
	Anth	Mrs. Vikas Saxena
	In Custody	Sarla
1995	Nazar
	Dushmani: A Violent Love Story
1997	Uff! Yeh Mohabbat	Billo
	Jeeo Shaan Se
1999	Cotton Mary	Blossom (Mary's sister)
2002	Raat Ke Saudagar
2004	Meri Biwi Ka Jawaab Nahin	Savitri
2005	Nazar	as Jogan
2009	Teree Sang	Paaki M. Puri
	The White Elephant
	Kitani Mohabbat hai	Savita Punj
2010	Veer	Mangla
	Hello Zindagi
	Na Ghar Ke Na Ghaat Ke	Mrs. S. Tripathi
	Chhevan Dariya (The Sixth River)	Gurjeet Kaur
2012	Mere Dost Picture Abhi Baaki Hai	as Mymmyji
2013	Issaq	as Amma
2015	Alone	as Sanjana's Mother
	The Threshold	Rinku
2018	Veere Di Wedding	Mrs. Sharma
	Mulk	Tabassum
	Badhaai Ho	Priyamvada Kaushik
2019	Music Teacher	Madhavi	Netflix film
	The Last Color	Noor
2020	Panga	Jaya's mother
	Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan	Sunaina Tripathi
2021	Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar	Aunty
	Sardar Ka Grandson	Sardar Kaur	Netflix film [23]
	Chhatrasal	Narrator
	Dial 100	Seema Pallav	ZEE5 film [24]
	83	Raj Kumari Nikhanj	Cameo appearance
2022	Goodbye	Gayatri Bhalla	[25]
	Uunchai	Shabina Siddiqui	[26]
	Vadh	Manju Mishra
2023	Shiv Shastri Balboa	Elsa
	Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway	Vasudha Kamat
	Lust Stories 2	Dadi	Netflix Anthology film
	Ishq-e-Nadaan	Charulata
	Mast Mein Rehne Ka	Mrs. Handa	Prime Video film
2024	Kaagaz 2	Sushma

Television

Year	Title	Role	language	Notes	Ref.
1985	Khandaan		Hindi		[27]
1986	Yatra				[28]
1987	Gul Gulshan Gulfaam
1988	Mirza Ghalib	Nawab Jaan
1989	Dard			Also Director	[29]
	Daddy	Vimla		Television film
	Chanakya	Shweta
1994	Junoon	Reema
1994–1995	Daane Anaar Ke
1998–1999	Saans	Priya Kapoor		Also writer and director	[30]
1999	Pal Chhin	—		Director	[31]
2000	Siski	Anoushka Saxena [32]		Also director	[32]
2000–2004	Son Pari	—		Producer	[33]
2001–2002	Kamzor Kadii Kaun	Host			[33]
2002	Saanjhi	Kanak		Also writer	[33] [34]
2002–2004	Kyun Hota Hai Pyarrr	—		Producer	[35]
2004	Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin	Nandini
2005–2009	Saat Phere – Saloni Ka Safar	Manorama "Manno" Narendra Singh
2009	Ladies Special	Shubha Joshi
2010–2011	Dil Se Diya Vachan	Dr. Kalyani Rajadhyaksha
2018	Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain	—		Writer	[36]
2019	Made in Heaven	Veenu Roshan		Guest
2020-present	Panchayat	Manju Devi			[37]
2020	PariWar	Kadambari		Hotstar web series
2020-present	Masaba Masaba	As herself		Netflix web series
2023	Charlie Chopra	Janki		SonyLIV web series
2024	1000 Babies	Sara Ouseph	Malayalam	Hotstar web series

Awards and nominations

Year	Work	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
1993	Bazar Sitaram	National Film Awards	Best First Non-Feature Film of a Director	Won	[38]
1994	Woh Chokri		Best Supporting Actress	Won	[39]
1999	Saans	Screen Awards	Best Actress (Television)	Won	[40]
2019	Mulk	International Indian Film Academy Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Nominated	[41]
	Badhaai Ho		Best Actress	Nominated
		Screen Awards	Best Actress (Critics)	Won	[42]
		Lions Gold Awards	Best Actor (Female)	Won	[43]
		Zee Cine Awards	Best Actress (Critics)	Nominated	[44]
			Extraordinary Couple of the Year (shared with Gajraj Rao)	Won
		Filmfare Awards	Best Actress	Nominated	[45]
			Best Actress (Critics)	Won
2020	Panchayat (Season 1)	Filmfare OTT Awards	Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Won	[46]
2021	Masaba Masaba			Nominated	[47]
	Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan	Filmfare Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Nominated	[48]
2022	Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar			Nominated	[49]
	Panchayat (Season 2)	Filmfare OTT Awards	Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Won	[50]
2023	Vadh	Filmfare Awards	Best Actress (Critics)	Nominated	[51]
2024	Uunchai	National Film Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Won	[52]

References

1. "Nominations for the 64th Vimal Filmfare Awards 2019". Filmfare. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
2. "My Acting Career Suffered Because of My Public Image, Says Badhaai Ho Actress Neena Gupta". News18. 17 February 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
3. "Winners of the 64th Vimal Filmfare Awards 2019". Filmfare . 23 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
4. Bold and dutiful MALA KUMARThe Hindu, 16 December 2005.
5. "Everything is out of my system now: Neena Gupta on her autobiography - Times of India". The Times of India. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
6. "Alumni" . Retrieved 21 May 2022.
7. "The Neena Gupta Interview You Must Read!". Rediff.
8. "Older woman becomes useless: Neena Gupta". Hindustan Times. 30 July 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
9. "Baby bother! « Rajeev Masand – movies that matter : from bollywood, hollywood and everywhere else". rajeevmasand.com. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
10. "Badhaai Ho Movie Review: Neena Gupta Is Outstanding In A Wonderful Cast". NDTV.com.
11. "Powerbrands BFJA". index.html.
12. "Badhaai Ho - Movie - Box Office India". www.boxofficeindia.com. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
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14. Gupta, Neena (2021). Sach Kahun Toh: An Autobiography. Ebury Press, Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN   978-9-391-14975-8.
15. "Force Of Nature: Neena Gupta | Verve Magazine". www.vervemagazine.in. 20 December 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
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28. Pal, Chandrima. "The DD Files: Shyam Benegal's 'Yatra' packed all of India in a train". Scroll.in.
29. "Guts, grit and a shy interior". Rediff.com.
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39. "41st National Film Awards (PDF)" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals . Retrieved 3 March 2012.
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44. "Zee Cine Awards 2019: Full list of winners out". Free Press Journal. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
45. "Nominations for the 64th Vimal Filmfare Awards 2019". Filmfare. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
46. "Flyx Filmfare OTT Awards 2020: Complete winners' list". The Times of India. 19 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
47. "My Glamm Filmfare OTT Awards 2021 - Nominations". FilmFare. 2 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
48. "Filmfare Awards : Thappad announced Best Film, Irrfan Khan wins posthumous award; see full list". Firstpost. 28 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
49. "Nominations for the 67th Wolf777news Filmfare Awards 2022". filmfare.com. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
50. "Winners Of The Danube Properties Filmfare OTT Awards 2022". filmfare.com. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
51. "68th Filmfare Awards 2023: Check out the official nominations list". The Times of India. 27 April 2023. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 31 December 2023.
52. "Winners of the 70th National Film Awards announced: Neena Gupta to celebrate her win for 'Uunchai' with Masaba Gupta, Sooraj Barjatya". The Times of India. 18 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.

External links

• Neena Gupta at IMDb  
• Neena Gupta at Bollywood Hungama
• Neena Gupta on Twitter