We have seen many love affairs between Bollywood actresses and Indian cricketers in the past but Neena Gupta gave her heart to West Indian veteran cricketer Vivian Richards. Neena Gupta has a reputation as the outspoken and bold actress in the industry, who has left a stamp on the industry with her marvelous work. When she and Vivian fell in love, not just Indian media but also the foreign media left no chance to cover it. But due to some reasons and cultural differences, the love story of the duo didn’t manage to survive:
The love story of the two brewed back in the late 1980s when Vivian landed in India with his West Indies team for a tour. At that time, Viv already had an image of a women’s man.
The first meet of the duo happened at a party in Mumbai, where the veteran actress was invited by a filmmaker. The two had nothing in common and even Viv was not at all familiar to Bollywood but a spark flew between them.
The meeting between the two became a normal course and soon the couple started dating. Although at that time Viv was already married and had two kids.
For a long period of time, the duo managed to keep their relationship under the wrap. But surprisingly one day, Neena got to know that she was pregnant with a baby but getting married to Vivian was totally off the cards.
Neena Gupta was raised by orthodox parents and in those days having a child out of wedlock was unheard of. In fact, even today celebrities would think twice before having a love child given the kind of attention celebs command.
However, Neena Gupta wasn't the one to be cowed down by society or its orthodox norms. She stood against the wishes of her friends and family, as she went ahead with her pregnancy to give birth to her love child, Masaba Gupta.
In an interview with Mumbai Mirror, Neena Gupta had once said after being asked about the one thing from her past she would want to reconsider, "I would not have a child outside marriage. Every child needs both parents. I was always honest with Masaba, so it did not affect our relationship, but I know she suffered."
At the age of 42, Neena finally found love in Vivek Mehra, a charted accountant from Delhi with whom she tied the knot in 2008.
