Since the release of 2018’s surprise hit Badhaai Ho, the very talented and beautiful Neena Gupta’s career has been on a roll. Spoilt for roles, the actress has been picking and choosing the ones that she liked, Rohit Shetty’s Sooryavanshi being one of them.
She had never worked with either Rohit Shetty or Akshay Kumar before.
However now in a shocking reversal of decision, Rohit Shetty has decided to scrap Neena’s role from Sooryavanshi, this when she had already shot for the film.
When I asked the versatile actress if this was true, she was surprisingly candid.
Says Neena, “It is true I am no longer in Sooryavanshi. I shot for three days for the film. Then they realized my track (in the plot) was not working. So they removed my track.”
However there is another explanation for Ms Gupta’s exit being discussed secretly.
Sources say Neena just didn’t look old enough to play Akshay’s mother.
Says a source, “Neena is just a few years older than Akshay. It was ridiculous in the first place to cast them as mother-daughter. When they shot together director Rohit Shetty realized they didn’t look like the mother and son.That’s why Neena’s track was removed.”
There is a parampara of actresses almost their co-stars’ age being made to play their mother in Indian cinema. The fabulous Waheeda Rehman had once shared her embarrassment with me for having to play Jeetendra’s mother, although they were almost the same age.
We wonder if we could have seen Neena in Sooryavanshi!!