Bollywood: Neena Gupta glad she has a chance to pick unique, unconventional roles

Veteran actress Neena Gupta had no inhibition about portraying a nonagenarian in the upcoming film ‘Sardar Ka Grandson’. She says nowadays, just like filmmakers, actors too have a chance to pick stuff that is “hatke” (unconventional).

Gupta plays Sardar, a fiery Indian grandmother with a heart of gold who wishes to see her home in Lahore. The 61-year-old star used prosthetics to achieve the look of a 90-year-old.

Talking about actors now pushing the envelope and not shying away from portraying older characters, Gupta told IANS: “It is because times have changed and the way people are writing scripts — various kinds of scripts. The way actors are getting a variety of roles and the most important thing is that the audience is accepting it have also helped. It is a very encouraging thing.”

She hopes that the audience likes her role in the film.

“If people like me in this film, it will be such a great thing for me and I think there will be a lot of other actors who would also have the courage to do something like this. The first thing I said was ‘I don’t want to play such an old woman’, but when I read the script I said ‘I have to do it’,” she said.

The actress added: “Nowadays, we actors have a chance to pick up stuff that is a little ‘hatke’, different, and not the usual stuff. Actors are very happy to experiment — like the producers, directors and writers are experimenting. It is a great time.”

‘Sardar Ka Grandson’ is all set to release on Netflix on May 18.