Neena Gupta says she was ‘jealous’ of Shabana Azmi: ‘I used to get thrown out of films, she used to get good roles’

Veteran actor Neena Gupta is currently basking in the success of Amazon Prime series Panchayat 2. In a recent interview, Neena recalled the time when she used to get thrown out of projects. She added that she felt jealous of actor Shabana Azmi, because unlike her, she used to get good roles in serials and films. Also Read: Masaba Gupta says Neena Gupta doesn’t understand why she eats avocado and often asks her, ‘why don’t you eat ghee?’

Neena made her acting debut in 1982, with Saath Saath. The film starred actors Farooque Shaikh and Deepti Naval in the lead roles. She later appeared in films such as, Mandi (1983), Rihaee (1988), Drishti (1990) and Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda (1992). She also did a few international films such as, The Deceivers (1988), Mirza Ghalib (1989), In Custody (1993), and Cotton Mary (1999).

In a new interview with Indian Express, Neena recalled that during her initial years, she used to be jealous of actor Shabana Azmi. She said, “Long time back, I used to be jealous of Shabana Azmi because she used to get all the nice parts. There were many other actresses also. Sometimes I was told that we are doing this role but was thrown out from it.”

Panchayat, the eight-episode series, which premiered in April 2020, was an instant hit on Prime Video and garnered overwhelming response leading to a second season. In the show, Neena plays the role of Manju Devi, the village .

Directed by Deepak Kumar Mishra and written by Chandan Kumar, the comedy-drama series revolves around Abhishek Tripathi (Jitendra Kumar), an engineering graduate who for lack of a better job option, joins as secretary of a panchayat office in a remote village named Phulera in Uttar Pradesh.

She will be seen next in Vikas Bahl’s Goodbye, which will also star actors Amitabh Bachchan and Rashmika Mandanna. She also has Sooraj Barjatya’s Uunchai in the pipeline. The film will star actors Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Parineeti Chopra and Boman Irani.