I Signed A Very Big Show Recently...But Chickened Out: Neena Gupta Reveals

Veteran actor Neena Gupta created quite a buzz when she recently took to Instagram and Twitter and asked for work. In her posts, she also told filmmakers that she is living in Mumbai and available to play good roles. Though everyone thought that she’s completely out of work, the 62-year-old clarifies that she still gets offers for TV shows and it was the film industry that had forgotten about her.

“Some [TV offers] were really good but I didn’t take them up because it’s like a 24x7 job. In fact, I signed a very big daily soap recently, but I chickened out, as it was a very big role and they wanted my morning to night for the next 30 days,” shares Neena. She adds, “I am still waiting for something very nice because if I am putting in 30 days in something, it has to be worth it.”

Asked if she’s convinced and happy with the kind of content being shown on TV these days, the 62-year-old says, “No, I’m not satisfied and I feel it has become regressive, again. And maybe that’s the reason why I am not doing work on TV.”

Best remembered for her role in daily soap Saans, which aired almost two decades ago, Neena says those days were much better as compared to current times.

“When we started, we had the best of work and everybody wanted to compete. But now, the cost of production has gone up and many crores are spent to launch a show, so it has become a big task. Hamare zamane mein to launch nahi hota tha… bas do chaar banner lag gaye. But that’s not the case nowadays,” says Neena, adding that maybe that’s why nobody wants to take a chance.

“People want to do the same thing, which is a hit. If you go to a channel with a fresh and newer script, they’d be like ‘it’s nice but we can’t accept it because we are not sure if it will work or not.’ So, clearly, they want to do whatever is tried and tested like naagins and dayans,” adds Neena, who was last seen with actor Jackie Shroff in a short film titled Khujli.