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Neena Gupta (born 4 June 1959) is an Indian actress and television director who works in Hindi films and television. 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). 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]

Neena Gupta
Gupta in 2012
Born	(1959-06-04) 4 June 1959 (age 63) Calcutta, West Bengal, India
Education	National School of Drama
Occupation	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

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[6]

Neena Gupta was born on 4 June 1959 in Calcutta, India to R. N. Gupta, an LLB and an officer in the State Trading Corporation of India, and Shakuntala Devi, 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 do a BA from Janki Devi Mahavidyalaya , and MA 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.[7]

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:[8]

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.[8]

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.[9] She also starred along with Madhuri Dixit in Khalnayak (1993); she was featured in the popular song "Choli Ke Peeche" in the movie. She has made television movies, Lajwanti and Bazar Sitaram (1993), 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."[8] One of the offers she accepted was Amit Sharma's comedy-drama Badhaai Ho (2018), which emerged as the ninth 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."[10][11] 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 (Critics), and the BFJA Award for Best Supporting Actor - Female.[12] At 60, she became the second-eldest Best Actress nominee in Filmfare Award history after Sharmila Tagore.

In 2020, Gupta appeared in Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari's sports comedy-drama Panga, and has reunited with Ayushmann Khurana for Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, with the latter earning her a Filmfare Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Neena Gupta will next appear alongside Manoj Bajpayee and Sakshi Tanwar for the upcoming thriller 'Dial 100'.[13] She made an appearance in Amazon Prime's Panchayat as Manju Devi Pradhan. She appeared in season 2 of the same in 2022 as the same character.

Television career

Her big break on television came with Khandaan (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 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.[14]

Personal life

Gupta married Amlan Kusum Ghose, studying at IIT-Delhi, while still an undergraduate. The marriage was short-lived with both mutually and amicably deciding to part ways within a year.[6] She was briefly engaged to Shaarangdev, 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
	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
1990	Kaarnama	Vyjayanti
	Swarg	Naina
	Drishti	Revati
1991	Vasthuhara	Damayanthi	Malayalam film
	Aadhi Mimansa
1992	Aham	Mother Nobble	Malayalam film
	Zulm Ki Hukumat	Yeshwant's wife
	Balwaan
	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
	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
	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		[25]
	Uunchai	Shabina Siddiqui	[26]
	Gwalior	Manju Mishra	[27]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1985	Khandaan			[28]
1986	Yatra			[29]
1987	Gul Gulshan Gulfaam
1988	Mirza Ghalib	Nawab Jaan
1989	Dard		Also Director	[30]
	Daddy	Vimla	Television film
	Chanakya (1991 TV series) Chanakya	Shweta
1994	Junoon	Reema
1994–1995	Daane Anaar Ke
1998–1999	Saans	Priya Kapoor	Also writer and director	[31]
1999	Pal Chhin	—	Director	[32]
2000	Siski	Anoushka Saxena[33]	Also director	[33]
2000–2004	Son Pari	—	Producer	[34]
2001–2002	Kamzor Kadii Kaun	Host		[34]
2002	Saanjhi	Kanak	Also writer	[34][35]
2002–2004	Kyun Hota Hai Pyarrr	—	Producer	[36]
2004	Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin	Nandini
2005–2009	Saat Phere	Manno Bhabhi
2009	Ladies Special	Shubha Joshi
2010–2011	Dil Se Diya Vachan	Dr. Kalyani Rajadhyaksha
2018	Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain	—	Writer	[37]
2019	Made in Heaven	Veenu Roshan	Guest
2020-present	Panchayat	Manju Devi		[38]
2020	PariWar	Kadambari	Hotstar
2020-present	Masaba Masaba	Neena Gupta	Netflix

Awards and nominations

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

References

External links

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

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