Masaba Gupta Explains Why Her Mom Neena Gupta Discouraged Her from Becoming an Actor

Established fashion designer Masaba Gupta, who debuted in acting with her streaming show 'Masaba Masaba,' shared that her veteran actress mother Neena Gupta convinced her to never take up the profession of acting.

Masaba said the story behind her mom's mindset, "The market forces would put her in a box as an actress because the industry used to function differently back in time."

Speaking at the podcast 'BiEauty Banter' hosted by Queenie Singh, Masaba said, "She didn't allow me to be an actor. Okay. Which is why, so I remember there's Anupam Kher's acting school in Mumbai.". They share a wall with SNDT College. And I said, I want to go and study acting because I want to be an actor. And she said, don't even think about it. You know, you have this look which is very artsy, international and almost not Indian. You'll get put in a box. And the industry at the time was very different.

She further said that, "So she said, you will get frustrated. Do something that you have to apply your brain to, that you can do for life. And she said, oh, there's SNDT right there. Do you want to go give it a shot? The admissions were open. I went there and I gave my, I put in my paper, filled a form.". And my test grades' marks were all they needed to take that form in. So, luckily, they were good, and they took it in. They said, yeah, come and do the entrance exam in a week."

Masaba also talked about how nepotism is not restricted only to the film industry but every industry or profession.

She said, "Nepotism is there in every industry. Lawyer's son becomes a lawyer. Doctor's son becomes a doctor. And their father recommends them. That is the way of the world. Not just in India, but everywhere. Sure enough, sometimes I feel that due to nepotism, opportunities get misplaced in Bollywood.".

But it's the way of the world. It's just that it's such a public industry that you're able to see it. It happens everywhere, I guess," she said.