Exclusive! Neena Gupta: Earlier, even small achievements in life felt big

National Award-winning actress Neena Gupta, who recently appeared as the leading lady in Shiv Shastri Balboa, alongside Anupam Kher, talks about her school days. She feels that these days, kids are under too much pressure to score good marks in exams.

In a conversation with OTTplay, Neena said, “I think these days children have a lot of pressure for everything - including education. They are no longer focusing on the joy of learning, but are concentrating more on getting a good score, so that they can get an admission in a good college. I remember I scored 65% in Arts. Aaj to bachon ko isse admission nahi milega college mein. These days, kids also get into depression from a young age, because of their study pressure. I mean, they are not even happy with 94%.”

Did you know, the veteran actress did her MA in Sanskrit from Delhi University and also was pursuing her MPhil. She did a thesis on ‘Stage Techniques in Sanskrit Drama: Theory and Practice’. But eventually, she studied acting and finished her degree in drama from the National School Of Drama.

Born and brought up in Delhi, it was tough for her to start from zero in Mumbai, and she ended up struggling a lot. However, she had an inner conviction to eventually make it.

"Of course, it was not easy for me and everyone knows it. Everyone knows the journey and struggle I had. But you know, I never had a target of getting things overnight. I think we come from that generation where the struggle was also a part of the entertainment, so small achievements felt big. I always felt, kuch na kuch zaroor ho jayega. Kuch na ho toh, I will teach. I am educated, I have a degree… I will not give up,” she elaborated.

Shiv Shastri Balboa also features Sharib Hashmi and Nargis Fakhri. It’s currently running in the theatres.