On Neena Gupta's 61st birthday, let's just admit that she never needed us to tell her she's brave, we needed her to show us that.
Brave. Strong. Independent. Some of the few coveted words that women would like to use as adjectives to describe ourselves. Except, approximately three decades ago, these nicknames presented a strange situation to Neena Gupta. She had just given birth to Masaba, a daughter out of wedlock, and had decided to raise the girl alone.
On this week's Throwback Thursday, we take you to the moment when Neena Ji made a difficult decision, no, not for having Masaba, but for being by her side every day. What better way to celebrate Neena Gupta's 61st birthday, right?
Neena Gupta wasn't really on a break, Badhaai Ho and her box office success brought her back to public attention. That, and a tweet from her asking for a job. One would think that with an impressive resume like Neena's, finding a job would be a child's play. It was not. And Neena Ji talks about it extensively, unapologetically and unapologetically, every opportunity she finds. As in a March 2020 interview, she noted how being labeled "brave, strong, and independent" ensured that she only got negative roles at the time. Because that's how strong caged women are, err, boxed. "I lost a lot of good work," he adds with a shrug, but without regret, not even a sigh.
Asking him "Was it a difficult choice?" It seems like a rhetorical question. Of course, it was, you would think that would be her answer. But she surprises you once again when she responds: "No, that was not the difficult part. Sahi ho ya galat, being with whatever you have chosen was the difficult part." In the same breath, she will also tell you that she didn't actually do it alone. She had a man in her life: her father. "I must have been a single mother for about two years, then my father moved and took over the house, took care of me and Masaba," Neena ji will tell her. It was a functional family of three, happy as well as happy.
"Many of my friends offered to marry me so Masaba could have a name, but I said 'what the hell, why should I marry someone so she can have a name?'" Neena ji never married Vivian Richards, father of his son, not that he was on the table anyway. But she married, at 42, for love.
You see, every choice Neena ji has made, from choosing to have a child out of wedlock to getting married at 42, can be seen today as something that breaks the Internet. But in reality, she has already fought her battles and won them, it's just that we are getting to know them now. And celebrating it. In the social networks. Such is the power of social media.
Neena hee knows it too. She is riding the wave of Instagram, posting photos and videos of herself looking beautiful and living life. But she has not changed, the times have. "All my photos are in my own clothes. I don't outsource them, except for the Masaba stuff of course," says Neena hee. Yes, she was always so cool. It's just that today, our vocabulary has improved.
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