Neena Gupta: Not the boycott trend, but the box office does affect me

By:- Shachi Chaturvedi

Neena Gupta is a Hindi film and television actress and director. After receiving praise for her performance in Goodbye and Masaba Masaba, the actress is gearing up for her upcoming film Uunchai.

The film is about the value of friendship. Absolute India News caught up with an exclusive conversation with her. Excerpts:

On her role and the idea of Film

While talking about what this film has to deliver the actress said, “It wasn’t just friendship when Sooraj sir explained my role to me. It’s a family movie, and Sooraj Ji has dealt with all of these families. The plot revolves not only around the four friends but also around their families.”

Neena Gupta continues and share why this role in important to her, “My role in this film is more than just flashbacks in Goodbye I don’t have any solid scenes, but I do have solid scenes in this film, which is nice. I used to feel bad about having short scenes during goodbyes.”

On her closest friend and need of friendship

The actress also share how friendship is very important to her, “Friends are very important to me at my age; Masaba lives with her family, and I have no family in Mumbai. So what should I do? My husband is usually out of town and rarely visits, so I am constantly in need of friends. I occasionally go to a friend’s house for dinner. I am constantly in need of the support of my friends. My closest friend is Masaba.”

She later adds, “College and school friendships are the real one, after that it is just acquaintances and colleagues.”

On friendship of Gen Z v/s Millenial

The actress also discuswse how friendship and way of looking at it has changed throughout the generations, “I consider these things. We used to play in the streets when we were younger, but today’s children do not. We used to finish our homework and go out, but nowadays children do not. I have a lower back problem as a result of sitting and looking at my phone; this is going to be harmful to future generations”

On opportunities OTT brought

While discussing how OTT has given a new space to talents the actress shares, “OTT has employed a large number of people, including not only actors but also technicians and others. We are no longer reliant on movies and television shows. We have these series where we don’t have to spend four years on a single show.”

About ongoing trends and Box- Office

We learn from Neena Gupta that she does not believe in any of the current trends, such as Boycott Bollywood or the north-south debate, but that what bothers her is the box office. The actress discusses, “Not the boycott trend, but the box office does affect me. I don’t believe the boycott trend is having an effect on the box office. If it’s a good film, it should work. You act because you want more people to see it. If the box office doesn’t bother me, I should get a script and act in my own living room. Everyone wants to be appreciated, and I am no exception. I do not believe in any of these trends and do not give them any weight.”