Masaba Gupta, who first established herself as a fashion designer, is now following in her mother, actor Neena Gupta‘s footsteps as she is actively pursuing acting now. She shared how she had looked at her mother’s journey in television and film and been inspired to join show business. Masaba also talked about seeing both sides of her mother Neena’s career, with her lows as a younger actor and success in her 60s. (Also read: Neena Gupta left confused, embarrassed after Masaba Masaba and Panchayat award mix-up: ‘Main toh bohut gadbad kardi aaj’)
Masaba remembered how Neena Gupta was told that she would not be considered for leading roles if she accepted a part in Kundan Shah’s Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro. Neena played Pankaj Kapur’s secretary Priya in the cult comedy classic which also starred Naseeruddin Shah, Ravi Baswani, Om Puri, and Satish Shah.
In a recent roundtable panel with Pinkvilla, Masaba shared, “Mom was telling me that when she said yes to Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, everyone told her, ‘If you do this role of this funny girl, you will never be a lead actress’. And it was true! I think Badhaai Ho is her first lead role. At the age of 60.”
In the same panel, Masaba said she had no problems calling people up for work and that she actually enjoys auditioning for parts. She said, “Yeah I would. I would do it because there’s so much I want to do and I just feel like there are many numbers I might not have.”
She went on to add that Neena also thought that because she lived in Delhi, people would forget her. In 2017, the veteran actor shared an Instagram post asking for good roles for herself. Neena had also mentioned that she is now in Mumbai.
Masaba and Neena play fictional versions of themselves in the Netflix series Masaba Masaba. Directed by Sonam Nair, the series premiered in August 2020, while the second season aired in July 2022.
The series, which follows Masaba’s love life, career, and other relationships, marked her acting debut. She later followed it up with a role in the Prime Video anthology Modern Love: Mumbai, opposite Ritwik Bhowmik, in a segment directed by actor-writer Dhruv Sehgal.
