Neena Gupta Wiki, Age, Boyfriend, Husband, Children, Family, Biography & More

Neena Gupta is the popular Indian veteran actress and director of TV serials. She has won two National awards for the Hindi films ‘Bazaar Sitaram’ (1993) and ‘Woh Chokri’ (1994).

Wiki/Biography

Neena Gupta was born on Thursday, 4 June 1959 (age 64 years; as of 2023), in Delhi. Her zodiac sign is Gemini. She did her schooling from The Lawrence School, Sanawar in Solan, Himachal Pradesh. Later, she pursued her M. A. and M. Phil in Sanskrit from Delhi. ^[1]Jagran

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 3″

Eye Colour: Black

Hair Colour: Black

Family, Caste & Husband

Neena Gupta was born in a Hindu family. ^[2]Wikipedia Her father’s name is Late R. N. Gupta. Her mother, Shakuntala Gupta, died due to cancer. She has a brother, Pankaj Gupta.

At the age of 16, she got married to a boy from Calcutta who had studied from IIT Delhi, but the marriage lasted for only two years. ^[3]IMDB While shooting for a TV serial in the 1980s, she met the veteran actor Alok Nath. There were rumours that they were engaged, and later got separated.

Later, she started dating Shaarangdev, the son of the popular Indian classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj. There were rumours that they both got engaged in a private ceremony, but later, they parted ways. ^[4]Bollywood Shaadis

In the late 1980s, she started dating the West Indies cricket legend, Vivian Richards. The couple dated for almost 13 years. She has a daughter with him out of marriage, who was born in 1989. Neena and Vivian’s daughter is the popular Indian fashion designer, Masaba Gupta. Although Neena never got married to Vivian Richards, she is still good friends with him. ^[5]Times of India

In 2002, she met the Delhi-based Chartered Accountant, Vivek Mehra. They met on a flight to Mumbai and instantly got connected. Vivek had recently separated from his first wife at that time. After dating for a few years, the couple got married on 15 July 2008 in a private ceremony in the US. Neena lives in Mumbai while her husband lives in Delhi.

Career

After completing her acting course from the National School of Drama in 1982, she started her career in acting.

She debuted as an actor in the Bollywood film ‘Saath Saath’ in 1982.

In the same year, she came into the limelight with the International film ‘Gandhi,’ in which she played the character of ‘Abha.’

Later, she appeared in Bollywood films, like Mandi (1983), Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron (1983), Rihaee (1988), Swarg (1990), and Drishti (1990).

In 1985, she started acting in the Hindi TV serials with ‘Khandaan.’ Later, she appeared in many TV serials, including Daddy (1989), Drishti (1990), Saans (1999), Siski (2000), Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin (2004), and Kitani Mohabbat Hai (2009).

In 1991, she made her Malayalam debut with the film ‘Vasthuhara.’

Her bold appearance in the item song ‘Choli Ke Peeche’ alongside Madhuri Dixit in the movie ‘Khalnayak’ (1993) was one of the chartbuster songs of that era.

 

In 1999, she directed the TV serial ‘Saans.’ In 2002, she hosted a game show ‘Kamzor Kadi Kaun;’ aired on Star Plus.

She appeared as a supporting actor in many Bollywood films, including Alone (2015), Veere Di Wedding (2018), and Mulk (2018).

She again came into the limelight with the Hindi comedy-drama film ‘Badhaai Ho’ in 2018.

In the same year, she penned down the script of ‘Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain,’ a Hindi TV web series.

In 2019, she appeared in various films, including ‘Music Teacher,’ ‘Gwalior,’ and ‘The Last Color.’

In 2020, she acted in Hindi films, like ‘Panga,’ ‘Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan,’ and ’83.’

Controversies

She was in a long term relationship with the cricket legend Vivian Richards. She got pregnant with his child without getting married in 1988. This created a lot of buzz in the media at that time. She received a lot of criticism, and even her career got affected by this.

Awards & Honours

National Film Awards

1993: Best First Non-Feature Film for Bazaar Sitaram (Directed by Neena Gupta)

1994: Best Supporting Actress for Woh Chokri

Screen Awards

1999: Best Actress for Saans

Filmfare Awards

2019: Best Actress for Badhaai Ho

2019: Best Actress (Critics) for Badhaai Ho

India International Film Festival of Boston

2019: Best Actress for The Last Color

Favourite Things

Food: Rajma Chawal

Actor(s): Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna

Singer: Lata Mangeshkar

Colour: Cherry Red

Facts/Trivia

• She is an alumnus of the National School of Drama.

• Reportedly, her mother wanted her to become an IAS officer.

• She used to play hockey in her college’s team.

• She got Rs. 10,000 for the film ‘Gandhi’ in 1982.

• As per the sources, she got engaged thrice but none of them ended in a marriage.

• She is good friends with her ex-boyfriend and father of her daughter Vivian Richards.
  

  Neena Gupta with Masaba and Vivian

• She has appeared in many TV commercials.

• She has featured on the cover of various renowned magazines.
  

  Neena Gupta Featured on the Cover of a Few Magazines

• She is often spotted drinking alcohol at parties.
  

  Neena Gupta in a Restaurant

• She follows a healthy vegetarian diet. ^[6]India Today

• Her hobbies include reading and travelling.

• She is an animal lover and owns a pet dog, Luca.
  

  Neena Gupta with Her Pet Dog

• She is an ardent follower of Lord Ganesha.
  

  Neena Gupta with an Idol of Lord Ganesha

• In an interview, she revealed her biggest regret was to give birth to a child without getting married.

• In an interview, when asked why she didn’t support her daughter to become an actor, she replied,

I told her if you want to be an actor then you go abroad. Because tumhara jis tarah ka shakal hai aur body hai, tumhe yahan Indian mileu mein bohot kum role milenge, even if you become a good actor. So, tumko woh heroine nahi milegi. Hema Malini nahi banoge, Alia (Bhatt) nahi banoge.”

• In 1997, she released a pop album called ‘Go To Court,’ which was a big flop.

• She was in the news for a post on her Instagram account in 2017. She wrote,

I live and work in Mumbai. I am a good artist and am looking for good work.” ^[7]Indian Express

• After the release of her film ‘Badhaai Ho’ in 2018, she received an appreciation letter from the legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan.
  

  Amitabh Bachchan’s Appreciation Letter to Neena

• In June 2021, she revealed in her autobiography “Sach Kahun Toh” that when she was pregnant with daughter Masaba, Satish Kaushik, an Indian filmmaker who is a good friend of her, offered to marry her. ^[8]Hindustan Times According to Gupta, Satish approached her and said,
  

  Don’t worry, if the child is born with dark skin, you can just say it’s mine and we’ll get married. Nobody will suspect a thing.”