A look at Neena Gupta's career comeback

Now, here's what I call a comeback. She has just started her next innings with renewed vigour. At long last, she's been acknowledged as an artiste who can knock out a gutsy-yet-restrained performance. With a quartet of major films this year - Veere Di Wedding, Mulk, Badhaai Ho and the still-to-be-premiered The Last Color, she has revived a career that had inexplicably fallen into the cracks.
Neena Gupta has become Bollywood's quintessential mother figure, without breaking into the mandatory hysterics. Not surprising given she has honed her skills for over three decades now. She first made an impact with Shyam Benegal's feature films (Mandi ­- 1983, Trikaal - 1985, Susman - 1987, Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda - 1993) and the mega- TV series (Yatra -1986) and Gulzar's TV biopic on Mirza Ghalib.
She's been seen in cult films - arthouse as well as mainstream. Take Kundan Shah's Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983), and Subhash Ghai's Khalnayak (1993) in which she shared the frame with Madhuri Dixit for that hugely popular song-and-dance sequence Choli Ke Peechhe Kya Hai.
When I interviewed her for a documentary on Benegal, the actress had said nostalgically, "The entire cast and crew of Yatra would be extremely possessive about Shyam babu. It would be a privilege to be invited to his dining table at the end of every day's shoot. Fortunately, I would be invited quite often and would listen raptly to him talking on every subject under the sun from cinema and books to international politics. There's no doubt that he is my mentor."
Despite winning two National Awards - one for the Best Supporting Actress in the indie film Woh Chokri (1994) and the other for Best First Non-Feature Film for Bazaar Sitaram (1993), a documentary on a neighbourhood in the older section of Delhi - her career kept hitting roadblocks. This can be partly ascribed to turbulence in her private life. Marriage with Sharang Desai, son of the classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj, was called off at the last minute.
A much-discussed relationship in the 1980s with West Indies' cricket captain, Vivian Richards, led to the birth of their daughter Masaba. As a single mother, Neena remained unfazed, stating, "That was my decision to take. It wasn't easy to bring up a child alone, but, in retrospect, I think I've always taken correct decisions." Masaba Gupta, now at the age of 29, is one of the leading fashion designers of India.
Neena did attempt to busy herself with assignments in television and theatre. She was a favourite of the legendary Puducherry theatre activist, Veenapani Chawla, who, in turn, is known for experimental stage dramas. Chawla would often tell me, "Neena is criminally underrated, but I am quite sure that Bollywood will not be able to ignore her for too long."
Neena's surprise marriage at the age of 42 with a chartered accountant from New Delhi, whom she met on a flight, is the kind of stuff fairytales are made of. Yet her career continued to be on a downward slope until last year when she posted a message on Instagram, saying, "I live in Mumbai and am working. Am a good actress looking for good parts to play."
Unlike other artistes, she had no qualms about asking for roles. And the gambit worked. Today, her artistically-appointed apartment close to Juhu beach in Mumbai is a beehive of activity. Filmmakers and scriptwriters head there to make her offers she cannot refuse. Fortuitously, she has kept herself open to big banner projects as well as the relatively low-budget ventures.
Indeed, masterchef-turned-director Vikas Khanna's film The Last Color, based on the social stigma against widows, received a thumbs-up from preview audiences at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. It is awaiting a theatrical release in India.
Quite clearly, her nuanced portrayal of a middle-class housewife, who finds herself in a ticklish situation in Badhaai Ho, has brought her immense public as well as critical acclaim. Chances are that she will figure prominently in the nominations for the Best Supporting Actress during the upcoming awards season. Piquantly, her prime competitor for the award will be the excellent Surekha Sikri, who played her nagging mother-in-law in the comedy of manners.
Either way, Neena Gupta has just asserted that life can restart for an actress of substance, age no bar.
wknd@khaleejtimes.com