Neha Dhupia 2.0

At the recently held Miss India contest in Mumbai former Miss India Neha Dhupia was felicitated on stage It was a night of many firstsmdashthe first time that former Miss India Neha Dhupiarsquos father saw her being crowned The first time her children were seen on a public platform The first time her parents her husband and children were on stage with her For Dhupia 20 years after being crowned Miss India 2002 this was a joyous moment she could not describe in wordsWe meet her on a rainy Tuesday afternoon to talk about her journey over a cup of black coffee and are charmed by her effortless style In a freewheeling chat she speaks about body acceptance her choices of work of being a relevant outsider to the film industry and yet being relevant and how she became one of indie cinemarsquos most recognised namesFormer beauty queen Neha Dhupia who was felicitated at the Miss India event seen with her kids on stageThe Miss India crown gave Dhupia a reason to always have her chin up This time though she looked and felt different and another sense of achievement loomed The atmosphere was as euphoric as it was 20 years back only now she had a personal army and a team behind her ldquoWhen you win Miss India itrsquos a stamp of approval that yoursquove worked hard on something Being recrowned 20 years later is a moment of joy I thought I was prepared for it but when I saw a clip of friends Irsquove had for 20 years talking about itmdashI got a little fuzzyrdquo says Dhupia who felt this was an appropriate moment to bring her children on stage they are shielded from the media ldquoIn all probability they will ask where they weremdashI canrsquot tell them lsquoYou were fast asleep on the most important day of my lifersquo We will withdraw into privacy with them but just to be able to wear that crown hold my children in my arms have my husband and my entire life in front of me was pricelessrdquoDhupia believes that the person doesnrsquot change when she is crowned in a pageant things around her change It becomes a problem if the person changes ldquoYou have to remain that same person put in the same amount of hard work hustle show gratitude be excited about going to work and be mindful that it can be taken away from you if you donrsquot put in the effortrdquo she says ldquoIf your chauffeur hasnrsquot come in take a rickshaw and get to work Your sense of achievement isnrsquot defined by the length of your trailermdashall this gets taken away the instant you donrsquot bring numbers at the box officerdquoThis isnrsquot newfound wisdom itrsquos an inheritance Her parents told her to reach out to them when she needed to ldquoIn the same breath they told merdquo she adds ldquohits and flops are not a problemmdashjust the fact that you are going to work is great If therersquos a personal or professional attack or you are not feeling good about something thatrsquos a problem You could be the biggest star and not feel good about yourself None of this is relatedrdquoThere have been times when Dhupiarsquos choices have paved the way for others but sometimes they went unnoticed Being cast as a cop when you are eight months pregnant A Thursday for instance or to host a podcast NoFilterNeha or to drive sizeinclusive sartorial choices Not to forget being cast in movies such as Ek Chalis Ki Last Local or Fas Gaye Obama which would have been applauded more if premiered on OTTBut Dhupia doesnrsquot have time for regrets She has been reinventing herself at a time when very few people travelled from film to reality TV successfully She was the host on reality shows such as the Roadies for more than five years where the target audience was between 18 and 24 ldquoI donrsquot know if I did it too soon or if I was ahead of my timerdquo she reflects ldquobut I wouldnrsquot say Irsquove been there done that because that makes me a thing of the past I want to be relevant continuously and do work that people will watch Itrsquos tougher now because we live in the time of social media and 60 per cent of social media users are under 19 So how do you stay relevant in that market is the big questionrdquoWhether it is embracing greys walking down the ramp for a plus size brand or posting nofilter pictures on social media Dhupia has been driving the change she wants to see and thatrsquos an unabashed use of her crown