Neena Gupta says ‘Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, Deepti Naval’ got all the lead roles: ‘We got nothing’

Actor Neena Gupta has revealed that it was ‘always’ actors Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, and Deepti Naval ‘who were seen as the face of art-house cinema’. She added that film directors like Govind Nihalani and Shyam Benegal never saw her ‘as a commercially viable actor’.

Neena Gupta recently launched her autobiography Sach Kahun Toh, a tell-all tale about her life, chronicling her professional and personal highs and lows. The book touches upon several milestones of Neena’s life, from her unconventional pregnancy, single parenthood to a successful comeback in Bollywood.

Speaking to Outlook India, Neena said, “See, it was always Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, and Deepti Naval who were seen as the face of art-house cinema, and even though Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani knew me, but they never saw me as a commercially viable actor.”

She also added, “I didn’t know how to conduct myself in the industry. I thought everyone was a friend. Nobody is your friend. They are doing their job and you have to do yours. I couldn’t learn how to talk to people. I was hesitant to persuade people constantly thinking it would push them away more and they’ll end up not talking to me. I was very shy and didn’t know the rules of the business. So, I made plenty of mistakes, and have been made a fool of because I didn’t know any better, I am a ‘ghusudu’. You should know when to exit.”

In an interview with Times Now, she said that even though Govind Nihalani was ‘friendly’ with her, he never cast her in a lead role. “It was always Shabana, Smita, Dipti, we got nothing. Not just me, but all the others who came with me. Not that we were ugly, or we were bad actors, or we were fat. But I never learned how to interact with people,” she said.

Recently, during an Instagram video chat with actor Kareena Kapoor Khan, who launched the book, Neena had said she has been writing the autobiography for 20 years and would often wonder if people were even interested in reading about her. She had also said, “Everything is out of my system now. Things I was hiding for so many years. That’s a big relief. I think, may be after reading the book, even if one person doesn’t make the mistake which I did, if they feel ‘yeah, we should not do this’, it’ll be worth it.”

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Meanwhile, fans will see Neena in Goodbye, in which she will portray the role of actor Amitabh Bachchan’s wife. She will also be seen in Dial 100 and second season of Masaba Masaba.