Neena Gupta: I am not so relieved even after both my vaccine doses

As the second wave of the pandemic eases its grip with Covid-19 cases on a decline, people are heaving a sigh of relief. However, actor Neena Gupta is still anxious as she feels that one should not let their guard down just yet.

Currently in Mukteshwar, Uttarakhand, with her husband Vivek Mehra, she says that even after getting vaccinated, she’s being very cautious.

“I keep hearing that people got Covid even after vaccination but I keep telling myself that even if I get it, I’ll get a milder infection. I tell myself to be positive. But when I go out and even for walks, I wear my masks at all times. I’m not so relieved even after my two vaccine doses,” the Mulk and Badhaai Ho (both 2018) actor shares.

Gupta, 66, shares the last couple of months haven’t been easy for her and she even fell sick because of the stress.

“I started having stomach issues. It was very troublesome. I called my doctor and he asked me if I was tensed because stress affects your digestive system. And I said I wasn’t because everything is okay here… my daughter and my husband are here with me,” shares the actor, quick to confess, “But then I realised that I’ve been sad because when I read things and saw things, the fear that I might get the virus or that someone close to me can die, is still there. That stress continues.”

That said, the National Film Award winner is trying her best by stay occupied to keep bad thoughts at bay. “I cook a lot these days, so my mind is occupied. I don’t sit idle for a second so that I don’t [get the time to] think of the crisis. There’s a lot of stress we all have right now, but we’ve to deal with it and we’ve to be very careful,” she adds.

Another thing that’s keeping her positive and adding to her happiness, is the reviews to her latest web film, Sardar Ka Grandson, and Gupta is lapping all the appreciation up.

“It was a very challenging role for me to play and I’m happy that people are appreciating it. Initially, when I was told I’ve to play a 90-year-old, I said no to the makers, because I said I don’t want to play a 90-year-old right now. But when I heard the script, I got very excited, and I was like, ‘I want to shoot now’. It was a very beautiful script and my role is so nice so there were no second thoughts,” says the actor, who co-stars with Arjun Kapoor in the film.

Talking about how she prepared for her role and build on the character of Sardar Kaur, Gupta explains, “For me, the look is very important. We experimented with the prosthetic for a long time. It used to take me two hours every day to get into the whole look, and then suddenly, when I was in the costume and make up, I felt different. I felt like a 90-year-old. With me, when I’m ready in a proper costume, I change automatically. I changed my voice and made it deeper. In acting, you have to mean your lines and listen to the other actors. That’s a very critical thing to do,” she concludes.