Older women can also be sexy: Neena Gupta

Bollywood has a tendency to box female actors in certain slots after they reach a particular age, which Neena Gupta attributes to the “lack of imagination of filmmakers”. While the veteran actor agrees that there is a change coming about in the industry in terms of roles for older women, she is quick to add that it is still very slow.

“It is still difficult for older women to get heroine parts and to be treated like heroines. Older women can be sexy also, mar to nahi gaye na hum log. It will take time. But slow changes are happening. The scripts that I am getting for myself are very interesting, thoda sa men-centric hai but the woman’s parts are also quite good,” Neena says.

The actor had a very successful 2018, having starred in films such as Mulk, and especially Badhaai Ho, which brought her into limelight like never before along with several awards.

“It is a film that I know will never come again. Just like Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983), [Badhaai Ho] will only happen once in a lifetime. I may get something else something different. Iss tarah ki films ek hi baar banti hai, aur banani bhi nahi chahiye,” shares the 62-year-old.

So, having witnessed such humongous success at this stage of her career, how is she choosing her future roles? “Ayushmann [Khurrana] told me that I should just like the script and the role. So, I read the whole script, now. I am reading a horror script. I want to do all the genres,” says Neena, adding, “I want to do some commercial films now. Artistic cinema that will not be commercially successful does not satisfy me. Badhaai Ho was an artistic cinema which became commercial.”

And the one person who is most happy about how busy she has been keeping off late is her daughter, designer Masaba Gupta. “She is very happy. She is the one person who pushed me to go back to work. She has been responsible for this change in my life . She promotes me as well (laugh). She is a good girl,” Neena concludes.

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First Published: Mar 28, 2019 15:41 IST