Mom-to-be Masaba Gupta knew she couldn’t be a ‘mainstream Hindi film heroine’; was taunted ‘You have skin like Om Puri’

Masaba Gupta is known for her celebrity clothing brand. However, she followed in the footsteps of her actress mother Neena Gupta, showcasing her potential as an actor in her web series Masaba Masaba. Though the audience was impressed to see the mother-daughter duo on screen, her mother once advised her not to keep her expectations high as she cannot become a ‘mainstream Hindi film heroine’.

Speaking to Faye D’Souza on her YouTube channel, mom-to-be Masaba Gupta recalled being warned by her mother Neena Gupta. She told the journalist that her mother said that the industry in India always works a certain way, and there are certain faces that people associate with an actor. So, she was always considered a little different and very artistic, who would probably get vamp roles or ‘seductress’ roles. The Badhaai Ho actress further told her daughter “If you want to be a mainstream Hindi film heroine, it won’t happen”. So, she should give it up.

Having said that, Masaba admitted that her mother Neena Gupta thought about her well-being. So, instead of sweetening things up and being overly supportive like other parents, she gave her some realistic advice about the problems she may face in the future. “She said that as an actor it can be very frustrating,” Masaba said. This made Masaba decide that she will not play a supporting role in any project as she likes to be front and center.

In the same chat, the fashion designer also talked about social media trolling. She admitted that people online used to make fun of her because of her skin colour and facial features. Talking about an incident, Masaba revealed that she was told that her skin was like late actor Om Puri’s because he had acne scars on his face. The entrepreneur also recalled shooting a video for a skin tint and not applying any filter. She found it useless to filter out her imperfections as it would blur her look. But it attracted a lot of negative attention with desktop warriors and mean comments on the post.

But she decided not to fight the haters on social media but to keep her head down and work hard to become more successful until the day comes when people can see her beyond her scars.