Having been chosen to play Akshay Kumar’s mother in Sooryavanshi, Neena Gupta’s role has been scrapped by director Rohit Shetty.
In a media interaction, Gupta nonchalantly opens up about this development:
“It is true, I am no longer in Sooryavanshi. I shot for three days for the film. Then they realised my track (in the plot) was not working, so they removed my track.”
Meanwhile, there is another explanation for her exit being discussed secretly. Sources say Neena just didn’t look old enough to play Kumar’s mother.
“Neena is just a few years older than Akshay. It was ridiculous in the first place to cast them as mother-son.
When they shot together, director Rohit Shetty realised they didn’t look like mother and son. That’s why Neena’s track was removed,” a source explains.
For some reason, there has been an on-going trend of actresses almost their co-stars’ age being made to play their mothers in Indian cinema.
Waheeda Rehman had once shared her embarrassment for having to play Jeeetendra’s mother, although they were almost the same age.
However, we will never get to see this trend reversed.
Neena is one of the most formidable and fearless actresses in Bollywood today.
Her no-nonsense and sincere personality is what really makes her stand out from the crowd.
Life has been no less than a roller coaster for her. Starting off as a single mother without any support, she continued to work her way and shine in her career.
Unlike other actors, Neena does not follow the culture of silence.
She recently sent out a tweet requesting work and that emphasised how there is no shame in asking such queries.
Subsequently, she has received a handful of projects, her most successful and latest one being Badhaai Ho, in which she portrays a middle-aged pregnant housewife.
