When Neena Gupta told Masaba Gupta why she can't become an actor: 'Jis tarah tumhara shakal hai...'

Neena Gupta had once revealed she used to discourage her daughter from following her footsteps into acting. She told her that with her looks, she would get few roles.

Neena Gupta had once revealed she did not want her daughter Masaba Gupta to pursue a career in acting. The actor, in an interview, had recalled telling Masaba that with her appearance, she might not get many roles in the country.

Neena Gupta and her daughter Masaba Gupta in a still from Masaba Masaba.

Masaba Gupta grew up to become a popular celebrity fashion designer. She also made her acting debut in the semi-biographical Netflix series Masaba Masaba last year. The series starred Neena Gupta as well.

Speaking about her daughter's acting dream, Neena had once told former journalist Rajeev Masand, "I told her ‘If you want to be an actor then you go abroad. Jis tarah tumhara shakal hai, body hai, tumhe yahan Indian milieu mein bahot kam role milenge (The way you look, the way your body is, you will get few roles in the Indian milieu). You will never become a heroine, you will never become Hema Malini, you will never become an Alia Bhatt’.”

Rajeev told Neena that Shah Rukh and Karan once told him that she met them on a flight, to which Neena replied, “Yeah! So mean and cheapy kind of people. They gave me their number and then phone hi nahi uthate the (didn’t attend my calls).” Rajeev soon added, “Because you wanted them to convince Masaba not to act.” Neena was happily surprised to know that Shah Rukh and Karan remembered the incident.

Neena recently released her autobiography titled Sach Kahun Toh. The book featured anecdotes from her life before stardom, her struggle in the industry, her relationship with West Indies cricketer Vivian Richard and raising Masaba as a single mother.