Neena Gupta made many revelations with her autobiography, Sach Kahun Toh. She recalled one such incident when, for the film Khalnayak, director Subhash Ghai asked her to wear a padded bra for the song Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai. The actress wrote that she was “embarrassed” when the filmmaker said “kuch bharo”.
NEENA GUPTA WASN’T TOO KEEN ABOUT HER ROLE IN KHALNAYAK
Neena Gupta revealed that she wasn’t too keen on her role in Subhash Ghai’s Khalnayak. She wrote, “When I first heard the song, I knew it was catchy. But when Subhash Ghai told me what my role would be, I wasn’t so keen anymore. I liked the fact that my part was sung by my friend Ila Arun, with whom I had acted in many films. But I couldn’t do it.”
WHEN SHUBHASH GHAI ASKED NEENA TO WEAR A PADDED BRA
Recalling the embarrassing moment, Neena revealed how Ghai asked her to wear a padded bra for the song. “They put me in a tribal Gujarati outfit and sent me to Subhash Ghai for approval. ‘No! No! No! No!’ he shouted. ‘Kuch bharo.’ I was so embarrassed. In my opinion, he was referring to my choli and stating that it needed to be filled. It wasn’t anything personal, I knew. He had visualised something . . . bigger for the rendition. I didn’t shoot that day. But the next day, I was presented to him in a different outfit, with a bra that was heavily padded, and he seemed satisfied. Subhash Ghai was very particular about what he wanted, which was why he was such a good director,” she shared.
NEENA GUPTA RECALLS HER CASTING COUCH EXPERIENCE
In her book, Neena Gupta also recalled a casting couch incident when a producer asked her to spend the night with him. The Badhaai Ho actress revealed that she got a call from a producer, from the South, to meet him. She wrapped up her work at Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai, and as the hotel was nearby, decided to pay the producer a visit. When the producer called her up to his room, she feared something was not right. She wrote, “My basic instinct told me to not go upstairs. That I should ask him to come down to the lobby instead.”
Since she was afraid of losing out on the opportunity, she went up anyway. The actress revealed that the producer proceeded to talk to her about the many actors he had launched for hours. An excerpt from the book reads, “‘So, what’s my role, sir?’ I asked him finally when he paused to catch his breath. ‘The heroine’s friend,’ he said. When he explained it to me, it seemed like a very small part. ‘Ok … I have to go now, sir’ I said, ‘My friends are waiting for me.’….’Go? Where? he asked. He seemed genuinely shocked. Aren’t you going to spend the night here?’ Suddenly, I felt like someone had just poured a bucket of ice water on my head. Khoon sookh gaya (My blood froze).”
She then wrote that the producer thrust her bag in her arms and told her that she wasn’t being forced to do anything, after which she ran out.
Neena Gupta was last seen playing the lead role in Netflix’s Sardar Ka Grandson, co-starring Arjun Kapoor and Rakul Preet Singh.