Actress Neena Gupta responded to a query about people referring to her as a rebel by calling herself a "chuha (mouse)" instead. In a recent interview, Neena claimed that she had received the epithet "brave" "simply because" she had a child outside of marriage. She also made a joke about a headline that might appear after her passing. She added that she didn't lead a life that was entirely her own.
In 1988, Neena and the former West Indies cricketer Viv Richards had an unmarried child named Masaba Gupta. Neena and Viv have always lived apart from one another. Neena wed Vivek Mehra in 2008. Actor Satyadeep Misra is currently dating Masaba, who is also an actress and a fashion designer.
In an interview, Neena said, "I'm not a rebel, I'm a chuha (mouse). I'm not unconventional, I'm the most conventional person right now. Just because I had a baby out of wedlock, which millions of women have in India and out. But the media made me into, 'Ah, brave'. After my death, the headline will come, 'Neena Gupta who lived life on her own terms passes away'. I did not."
Neena also talked about her parents' reaction when she wanted to take up acting as a career. She said, "They were against it. My mother was a double MA herself at that time. She used to look down upon Hindi films. She would only go to international film festivals and see English films. And when I said [I wanted to act], she like died. She said, 'No way'."
Neena described Masaba's birth as "very strange." It was, she said, because "it was so much happiness and so much unhappiness." She expressed her happiness at having Masaba. But she claimed that "the whole media and everybody, they made my life miserable." Neena stated that she made the conscious decision to only keep the good people in her life.
Neena last appeared in the suspenseful psychological film Vadh. In this movie, Sanjay Mishra, who is best known for his comedic parts, played a serious role. The movie opened in theatres on December 9, 2022. The film was written and directed by Rajeev Barnwal and Jaspal Singh Sandhu. J Studios and Next Level Productions made the movie. Luv Ranjan and Ankur Garg of Luv Films presented it.
