Neena Gupta: I'd recommend Saans and Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda for Gen-Z to watch

Neena Gupta turned 65 today

Neena Gupta birthday 2024: Neena Gupta is known to the current generation because of her roles in films like Badhaai Ho, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan and the web series Panchayat. However, she has a huge body of work to her credit, starting from the early 80s. She has been part of many celebrated films like Utsav, Mandi and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron. The list of television projects she has been part of is a long one as well, including Junoon and Chanakya.

Speaking to mid-day some time ago, while promoting her film Goodbye, Neena Gupta, who turned 65 today, named the two projects she would recommend for the new generation to watch. "I didn't do too many good films, but if I had to recommend something to Gen-Z to watch, it would be Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda by Shyam Benegal, and the TV show Saans," she told us.

Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda is a 1992 Hindi film directed by Shyam Benegal and based on the novel The Sun's Seventh Horse by Dharmavir Bharati. It won the 1993 National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. The self-reflexive film is also known for its subversive take on the 'Devdas' syndrome.

Neena Gupta wrote, directed and acted in the TV show Saans, which remains one of her best works to date. The series premiered in 1998. The story focuses on the accidental love triangle between the characters Priya, Gautam, and Manisha.

Gupta has broken stereotypes with the roles she has taken up, taken up age-appropriate characters and is now more busy than ever. "I have 5 big projects ready, and three in the making," she told us at the time of the interview.

The actress has been very vocal about her life as a single mother, raising daughter Masaba Gupta while also balancing an acting career in Mumbai. She says her father's emotional support and her mother's unexpectedly unorthodox thinking helped her a lot.

"My father was my biggest support. He was the man of the house. He came and started living with me. If he had not stayed with me I would not have survived. He supported me emotionally, and financially as well, initially. When I moved to Mumbai, I was living in a PG, under poor conditions. My mother's thinking was so modern, she told my father, ‘Instead of dividing the property after our death, why don't you give it to her now? She needs the money. Maybe she won't even need it after our death.' So my mother, who was so orthodox in so many ways, was so modern and practical in this situation. They sold one property and bought me one 1-bedroom-kitchen in Andheri East," she recalled.