‘I am not Amitabh Bachchan’: Neena Gupta says strong roles aren’t written for women her age

Neena Gupta says she is happy that she is getting popularity after 30 years in the industry, adding that she knows she is no Amitabh Bachchan and strong roles are rarely written for women her age.

Veteran Bollywood actor Neena Gupta has said she knows she is “not Amitabh Bachchan” and she found popularity only recently - despite having worked for almost 30 years.

Neena Gupta has crisp responses to people who tell her she got her popularity.

Neena said in an interview with India.com, “I am not Amitabh Bachchan. People noticed me after Badhaai Ho. I think right now, I am known as a good character actor. I have not got that kind of fame. There are very few roles for women. I can’t be the heroine. Men (of my age) can still do main leads. Women can’t.” She further said that strong roles are rarely written for women, especially at her age.

However, she added that she is “quite content”. She also had a fair bit of advice for women: “Your plan B and your dependency should be on your money. The money will help you with any problem. Every woman should have her own money. That’s the plan B (for a woman) before anything else.”

Neena came back in the limelight after she featured as Ayushmann Khurrana’s mother in the critically and commercially successful film Badhaai Ho in 2018. She turned 61 earlier this week and her social media timeline was flooded with birthday wishes from fans as well colleagues.

The actor, who was recently seen in yet another family comedy Shubh Mangal Zyaada Saavdhan, has been living with husband Vivek Mehra in Mukteshwar during the lockdown. She travelled to the scenic hill station for a two-day picnic but couldn’t return to Mumbai. She told Hindustan Times in an interview, “We were very fortunate that we are at such a beautiful place, have a small house here, our staff is here. It’s a small place so grocery is also not a problem. We go on walks and our compound is quite nice. It’s just a matter of chance that we came here just two days before the lockdown and now no one can come or go out of this place.”

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