Indian National Award-winning actress Neena Gupta wasn’t thrilled when her 14-year-old daughter Masaba expressed her wish to join the Bollywood industry and become an actress just like her accomplished mother.
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00:00you know Manjusha you were the last person I met like overseas before the lockdown
00:05I think it was my last interview too
00:08yeah
00:09we're not very good for each other are we
00:13yeah so but it's so lovely to see you acting Masaba and Meena Ji
00:17so of course I know that you act so well but it was very interesting to know that
00:20you're a good actress Masaba I saw the first two episodes
00:22oh thank you
00:23I'm hooked
00:24I love this mother-daughter duo are you guys like this in real life if so I'm very jealous but yeah
00:34uh yeah you know we we are sorry mom you want to take it
00:37no, no just say it, I have a sore throat
00:41no I'm uh I mean we totally are we are um and you know when we were writing the
00:47the show and we were talking about dialogues and screenplays where we were like you know
00:51it has to be our voice because you know there is a banter even the banter that we have on
00:56social media is exactly like that like it would be in our home so you know there's that little
01:01um that that friendship uh but it's also coupled with a very conservative mother-daughter
01:08relationship I would say so you'll see both sides in in the show as well
01:12so that's right how about you uh what appealed to you Neena Ji about it is it because just to
01:17act with your daughter I don't know if it's a good idea to work with family members but
01:21you need to tell us why did you choose to
01:25well I had no other option who else could have played her mom so I had to play
01:32no I was very very impressed and surprised initially when
01:38she told me Ashwini that she has this kind of idea and I was wondering
01:43what exactly is she going to do and then slowly slowly Sonam came in and writers came in and then
01:50we shared a lot of our intros with the writers and Sonam chatted ate together and then they wrote
02:00this amazing script so this actually is a very very good script I could not imagine them writing
02:06such a good script and I was very impressed and I did my job like I did my job and I was
02:18I did not know how Masaba will do because it is her first time so first time I heard her in the
02:27readings and then I realized that she will do something and but then when I saw the episodes I
02:38was very impressed by her performance very, very impressed I generally don't say it but I had to say it
02:46I see yes you do look very natural Masaba I have to say both of you when I was watching the first
02:51two episodes I kept wondering is this real or is this a piece of fiction that kind of you guys
02:57are teasing the audience in a very interesting way and that's what I loved about this I didn't
03:02know when Meena Gupta the actress began or the character began versus what happened in your real
03:07life that's what you guys are banking on as well or was that natural I mean you know when we were
03:14writing it so what I believe is that sometimes when you see something of this nature right it's
03:19so easy to be disconnected from either or so sometimes you know it's like when you see fact
03:25being played out on screen you can be pulled out of that person because it's so natural or when
03:29you're seeing fiction you can be pulled into that so deep that you feel disconnected from the rest
03:33of it so the thing is everything had to be a flow you know so of course we're playing fictionalized
03:39versions of ourselves but at the same time it's for the audience to guess you know when are we
03:44actually when did this actually happen are we really feeling that or is this something that is
03:50scripted and has just been done to exaggerate our characters and lift them up you know so I think
03:56I'd leave that to the audience's you know discussion but I just think that you know we
04:03we just wanted it to be like I said in our voice it had to be genuine it had to be you know you
04:10have to feel like you're watching you someone's left a little door open and you're just getting
04:16a peek into somebody's life who you thought was a celebrity or somebody who you couldn't touch
04:21and feel and experience so that's the idea it's like leaving the crack of the door open but not
04:27really letting them relax of course what about you Neena ji I mean were you also aware that
04:33you're just teasing the audience a bit perhaps you know some vicarious fun to be had yeah
04:41actually the fiction pieces are also written in such a way the script that it gels with the real
04:51okay so it could have happened and actually it has happened but maybe it happened with somebody
05:00else but it was real you know so the way they have interlinked the fiction and reality you
05:09think everything is real you would not think it's scripted but it won't feel like they are
05:16telling so much about themselves, it won't feel like that right so there is a balance it's not
05:21overdoing the real but it's real it will feel real this is what I felt yeah brilliant and also the
05:28movie this series explores the modern relate a day relationships even the way you have handled
05:33the divorce be it a single mother it's dealt very delicately and that's what I think speaks to us
05:38right at the end of the day was that deliberate like did you all want to showcase your own
05:43reality as well even if it has some what's and moles it's okay doesn't matter you're still
05:47putting yourself out there you know the fact of the matter is that a lot of that did actually
05:55happen of what you see however there was you know I don't know how to say it but it's almost as if
06:03you know we didn't we didn't want it to be I didn't want it to feel like we're trying to hide
06:12something so I was saying that you know if you've come all this way if we've come all the way here
06:17and I'm showing you this aspect of my life which is obviously an important part of it I want you
06:22to see it in the most organic raw way possible so in the handling of the relationships of course
06:28it's raw of course it's organic it has its weaknesses it has its strengths it also has its
06:33flaws but I think the beauty was that everybody who sees it will realize that at the end of the
06:39day if it's a celebrity or it's a regular person going through a heartbreak or separation or
06:45anything their approach to life is rather similar after it right and no matter who you are in the
06:53course of the day I think when you wake up and you go to bed we're all the same people you know
06:58be it heartbreak, be it a success, be it failure we're all the same people so I think that was the
07:03intention, the intention was not to say oh you know what if someone says that oh this is what
07:08happened in her marriage you know I mean I like I said we've come all this way not to be not to
07:16make people feel like they have been formed okay so there is a genuineness but at the same time
07:23we've protected I at least have made sure that I've protected the people that I love and shown
07:29them in a light that they wouldn't feel you're misled by that that's about it I think
07:35Kaz, what about you Neena ji?
07:36It is very difficult to explain in words how we have dealt with this series with this topic
07:46it is very difficult it just happened and I won't have any words to say
07:54that how much fiction is there, how much real is there but what is there, what has been done that will sound real
08:01okay that will seem real that's what it's very difficult to find a word for that
08:10fair enough, Masaba I remember you telling me in Dubai that you have always wanted to be an actress
08:15and somewhere I think your mom dissuaded you I'm not very sure I can't remember the exact words
08:19so don't exactly that yeah I think your mom is around would that be a bit
08:25no I said I after seeing the series I said sorry to her oh I truly want to I even I do want to I
08:32was like oh I wish there was faith there because you're a good actress is it but did it live up to
08:37your expectation with facing the camera did you love being on camera in your own head did you
08:42think acting is so exciting or did it live up to it yeah I mean I think it lived up to more it was
08:48much more than I expected it to be and I think just earlier today someone was saying have you
08:53tasted blood and I said I have the thing is I had tasted blood when I was 14 years old and
08:59all these years there was this itch at the back of my head where you know you when someone tells
09:03you you can't do something because of the way you look or whatever you just want to do it more
09:08you know and the one thing I did know for sure was that I didn't I never wanted to do it at the
09:17cost of which is why when my mom told me don't become an actor back when I was 14 I said okay I
09:22didn't argue because she said you know you will be given this type of role and that type of role
09:27you know that typical dark sultry heroine who has come to break a family marriage you know that
09:33yes and yeah so I was like I don't want to be put in a box because of my physical attributes you
09:40know having said that I also told her that I don't want her to do my sefarish I don't want her to
09:48be like oh you know my daughter and please audition her and blah blah blah I didn't want any of
09:53that because I really wanted to do it on my own merit but I think today and I think the reasons
10:01for me wanting to become an actor back then were wrong today they are right back then I just felt
10:07like oh I'll be glamorous and I'll be on the poster and I'll be on a holding and everybody
10:13will stop me and ask for a photograph and I wear dark glasses and I'll be like not right now you
10:17know but I think today I want to be an actor because I love, love, love being on a set I love
10:27being in front of the camera I love the process of I love the whole process you know and I think
10:34it also makes a difference that I have a career in fashion and I don't want to take away from
10:39that because I think you know the fact that I have a full-time job the fact that I have something
10:44that I'm I know I have a fallback on or that I will always do in my life I think it helps because
10:50I think when you enter the field of acting in films in a manner that oh my god will I have food
10:56on my table next month or will I know survival you know so this isn't about survival it's about
11:01pure passion so I think I approached it in that manner which is why I was more relaxed and that's
11:07probably why you see me more relaxed on screen as opposed to anything else that's so heartening
11:13to hear and Neenaji it's very democratic of you to say that I apologize to her I certainly hope
11:18for not because it's not easy for parents also you're just protective at the end of the day I
11:22think I mean I'm a mom of three so I totally get this I keep telling my kid not to join
11:27gymnastics because I'm scared she'll be shot I don't know it's the same thing it's the same thing
11:33yeah gymnastics make you shot I don't know but I just have this in my head so I want to ask you
11:39like maybe even I may have to apologize to her later but in your case what did you you know
11:45what did you observe about her Neenaji about your own daughter as an artist
11:49more than just your flesh and blood as in in this series as an actor actor you are seeing her
11:57she's a discovery of sorts you know in this series yeah so she actually she had all kinds of
12:03scenes in the serial I mean you can say all nervousness were there like she had to do very
12:11difficult scenes, emotional scenes, fun scenes, tense scenes a whole lot because it is about her
12:19and I like people are saying I agree I found her very, very natural, very, very realistic
12:27and relaxed and that is the main thing and obviously when you see yourself acting especially
12:36first time you only see you and you don't like you I mean you find so many mistakes and all which
12:42is very good it's very nice to find faults with your first venture like this but I
12:51I told I came back and I said I have never said this to you like this but you are very good this
12:59is what I said to her. I totally second that our 12 minutes are off is there anything you want to
13:06add I know we have very limited time but go ahead you know I would love to put perhaps any thoughts
13:12you have on the series and because people are looking forward to it for sure and it's like a
13:17it's not like keeping with the Kardashians it's not that salacious but it's still fun it's first
13:22of its kind in India at least I think there's a bit of a window into your lives so yeah and
13:30that's it we can end the conversation as well here. I think for me actually Manjusha more than
13:37you know of course the process was great being on screen was great living reliving all those
13:43moments was great but I think for me I see this and you know I decided a week before the trailer
13:50came out I said you know what I'm really going to have fun I'm going to enjoy both the appreciation
13:57as well as the criticism I'm going to take the criticism well I'm not going to become one of
14:02those people who goes into a shell because if I'm if I'm not received the way I think of think I
14:08should be received I'm not going to go into a shell I'm going to keep living my life and I'm
14:11going to keep trying and do better that's one. The second thing is I see this series not just
14:16for what it is which is a peek into our lives but I also see it as a personal victory for myself
14:23you know because I think all of us agree that you know this place this industry is reserved for a
14:30few it's reserved for people who look a certain way who have a certain skin color who have a
14:36certain body type but I think the time has come for it to be reserved for people who can actually
14:44just purely deliver as well so I think everybody can have their place in the sun I want this to
14:51be a victory for girls who feel like who feel less when they've looked into a mirror at a certain
14:56age and felt like they can't join the movies for a particular reason I want them to think of
15:01this as a happy place one where you can protect yourself and still do great work so I see this as
15:06a personal victory I mean just the show releasing itself is a big victory for me one that I think
15:12I could have only dreamed of and I think I can be a champion for body positivity and skin and
15:19but this is the actual war you know this is the actual sort of my dream of saying that you know
15:26what hey you, you and you walking on the street you here you all can be in front of the camera
15:33that's good you're shattering stereotypes I love it nothing like that I love this walk
15:37right Meena ji thank you so much both of you I love you both
15:43Thank you so much.