From raising a daughter alone to asking for work, actor Neena Gupta has played quite unconventional roles, both in her reel and real life. At a time when women were ridiculed for have an opinion, the national award winner got married to Delhi’s Vivek Mehra in 2008.
However, she was often at the receiving end of brutal remarks, judgments, and unsolicited life advice because of her past. In a web show, the ‘Badhaai Ho’ actor bared it all and revealed how a boyfriend once told her, “you are still on the shelf.” Hindustan Times quoted her saying:
“A boyfriend of mine; we were fighting and he said nastily to me ‘you are still on the shelf!’ I will never forget that! It is horrible. Nobody is waiting to be picked up.”
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She further divulged how she was often forced to get married to guys she didn’t love. “I had this couple friend from Delhi who was staying next door in Mumbai. I had another male friend. But I never felt like ‘that’ towards him, I liked him. They used to tell me ‘marry this man, he is a very nice man’.”
“They were after me ‘he is such a nice man and a bachelor! He is wealthy and even owns a flat. Just marry him already’. When I said I do not love him or lust him, I was told ‘just go ahead and marry. Love will also happen’. This is our culture, tradition.”
Talking about marriage, the ‘Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan’ actor said that it’s about “companionship, support, and somebody to lean on.” She added, “Also, I got married very late, I married at 48. What I realized after a few years of marriage is, you don’t depend on him for your happiness. You do your thing. At least, he is not stopping me from doing my thing.”
Sharing some notes from her marriage, the actor said, “What I do if I am angry with my husband about something, which I am very often, I tell myself, okay but he is very good like this, like this. And my anger goes. This is being sensible and wise. Practical. It is a sign of you being healthy.”
“You need to decide, I want to make this relationship work. Not giving up on people, otherwise, it is very easy to give up on people. I realized that very late. This wisdom has come very late to me, I have done major mistakes in my life. You know, these kinds of stupid mistakes.”
Well, those are some tips I’m sure going to note down. Thanks, Neena Ji for paving way for the generations to come.