She doesn't want to call it her comeback. "I was always there, I never went anywhere," says Neena Gupta. "What should I term it?" she wonders. Neena Gupta 2.0, you tell her. "Bas, ek thappa sa lag gaya. Every actor looks for that breakthrough role. Mujhe abhi mil gaya," she laughs. Gupta can refer to her life as post-Badhaai Ho (2018) and before it. The quirky comedy, about a middle-aged couple whose life turns topsy-turvy when they realise the stork is going to visit them, put her on top of the heap.

"Javed Akhtar called and told me that I am not surprised, but happy for you. No one can stop you now," recollects Gupta, who is currently shooting at Mehboob Studios for Rohit Shetty's Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif-starrer Sooryavanshi. When we catch up with her, it is the second day of shoot with the filmmaker and the Khiladi, who are known for creating box office history. Gupta now finds herself part of one such big-ticket project. She plays Kumar's mother, who is unlike the typical gajar ka halwa-feeding screen moms. There is a new dimension to her character.