Neena Gupta says she will do anything for Masaba but not for her husband

Actor Neena Gupta, who is having a great year with back-to-back releases ‘Goodbye’ and ‘Uunchai’, opened up about her personal life and raising daughter Masaba as a single parent in an interview with Humans of Bombay.

Neena Gupta has said that she doesn’t believe in any other love other than the love she has felt for her daughter, fashion designer Masaba Gupta. Masaba is Neena and former West Indies cricketer Viv Richards’ daughter. The ‘GoodBye’ actor is now married to chartered accountant Vivek Mehra.

Neena was asked about how love was different for her at 49 than in earlier phases of her life. She said ‘I don't think there is anything called love between a man and a woman. It starts with lust and then If you get along, you become affectionate to each other and then, it becomes a habit. The only love that I have felt is for Masaba. I don't know other people might have felt, but mujhe nahi love samajh mein aata (I don't understand that love).’

‘Ye sab wo lust hota hai shuru me, uske baad (there is lust in the beginning, but after that) it can take any direction, you marry or you go to somebody else. It's only with a child that love I feel that I can do anything for her. For my husband I will do, I do a lot, but I will not do anything for him like I will do for Masaba,’ she added.

The actor also recalled the time she learned about her pregnancy, and called Vivian to inform him about it. The cricketer, who was married to someone else at the time, encouraged her to go ahead with the pregnancy. She mentioned that her family didn’t support her initially, but eventually her father became one of her biggest supporters.

Recalling the conversation she had with Vivian, Neena said, ‘I was not very giddy with joy. I was happy because I loved him. I called him and asked him that if you don’t want this child then I won’t have it. He said, ‘No no I would love for you to have this child’. Everyone told me, ‘No, no, no how can you do it alone?’ because he was already married and I couldn’t marry him and go to Antigua to live there. But what happens is jawani mein you are blind. (You are blind in your youth) When you are in love, you don’t listen to anybody. No children will listen to their parents and I was the same.’

She further stated that she told Masaba everything frankly about who her father was and why she didn’t have a conventional upbringing. ‘We (Vivian and Neena) were in touch sometimes, sometimes not. But I told her (Masaba) everything frankly. It’s important to tell the child the truth otherwise he or she will find it from somewhere else. So, it’s better to tell her and let her adapt,’ Neena said.

Neena Gupta and Vivian met when the queen of Jaipur invited the cast of the film and the West Indies cricket team for dinner.

Also Watch I 'Bholaa' teaser: Ajay Devgn performs deadly action sequences, watch here