Neena Gupta told daughter Masaba: ‘The way you look, you will never become Alia Bhatt’

Neena Gupta, who recently won her first Filmfare award in Critics Best Actor Female category for Badhaai Ho, revealed about the time her daughter Masaba wanted to become an actress but she advised her against following a career in acting. In a recent interview with Rajeev Masand, Neena revealed that she had met Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar on a plane around that time and had asked the two to convince her daughter to let go of her aspirations to become an actress in Bollywood films.

And while they had promised to help out, none of them picked the call, when she did call them. Neena replied saying, "So mean and cheap kind of people they are. They gave me their number and phir phone he nahi uthate thay." However, she was pleasantly surprised when Rajeev told her than one of them had told him about her request to convince Masaba not to become an actor. Neena then went on to explain the reason behind her not wanting Masaba to act.

She said, "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."Neena also insisted that it wasn’t mean for her to say that, she was just giving her daughter the true picture of the state of Bollywood at the time, and in some parts even today.

Meanwhile, Masaba Gupta and her filmmaker husband Madhu Mantena announced their separation last year and filed for divorce in March this year. "After much thought and consideration, we have come to an amicable conclusion on all matters. We have decided to move forward separately and get divorced," the couple had said in a joint statement.