Neena Gupta on the need for a mentor in the film industry: I didn’t call Shekhar Kapur back because I thought he told me he would call me back – Times of India

Celeb biographies are a handbook of sorts for those who want to follow in their footsteps. Seems like Neena Gupta, who had to navigate the wee hours of the industry on his own, discovered this when he began writing his book, ‘Sach Kahun Toh‘, which is a statement about his life so far. Apart from sharing anecdotes from her life, the actress has also made it a point to impart knowledge that comes from living life as adventurous as she did.

In conversation with Vinita Dawra Nangia, Director of Times Litfest And executive editor, ETimes, the actress opened up about what inspired her to pen down tips and tricks for surviving in the cutthroat world of movies, and also shared an account of her mistakes to learn from others. We asked him if, contrary to the popular belief that an actor has to act himself before performing, in the book Nina advises him to calm himself down? To which he explained, “This is the hardest thing. You have to focus and be in the scene; What I have learned from my experience is that you have to mean the dialogue that you say and listen to the co-actor. This is the hardest thing to do because your thoughts can go astray; If you are stressed, you cannot concentrate, therefore, you have to relax”.

The actress admitted that even now sometimes her mind goes somewhere else. “But because I have so much experience, I can act average without being mean. People who are critical and want to feel what you’re saying will immediately understand when you’re not completely into it. Even if you didn’t get a good night’s sleep, you still have to go to work. It’s a physically taxing profession… very tough,” he insisted.

Is that why she emphasizes the importance of a mentor in the book? “It is like any industry, you cannot enter a business without knowing the rules of the game. Like I said, I didn’t call Shekhar Kapur back because I thought he told me that he would call me back. If there was someone who was mentoring me, I wouldn’t have missed the opportunity,” she said while talking about the incident mentioned in the book, where she was being considered for a role by the filmmakers, but she lost it. Gave up because she didn’t take the initiative to call.” Later, I was advised to write down the names of the people to call in a week, and make at least 10 calls every day, until there was no response. Keep calling till Earlier, I didn’t know all this”.

like his other follies, Nina The way by being completely open about your life by being completely open about your life and sharing details of your personal affairs without hesitation, only to be featured in a gossip column the next day. He has also expressed regret over the way he treated the media. “Like I said, it was my fault. I thought they were my friends, but they were also smart, and that was their profession. It demanded me to take things out. I don’t blame them,” she points out. Having said that recently a journalist reached out to her for an interview on a topic she didn’t want to talk about and when she declined his request, Munshi revealed that she was a fraudulent reporter. Who was told to get something reprehensible or face dire consequences.” But I think people in today’s generation are very careful with what they are saying, they are very good. He has learned a lot from social media; Things have changed now,” he observed.

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