Neena Gupta reveals director Shyam Benegal never gave her a major role

Neena Gupta has featured in several popular movies by Shyam Benegal including 'Mandi', 'Trikal' and 'Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda'. Recently, in an interview, the actress revealed that during the 1980s and 1990s, it was difficult to get main roles. Shyam never gave her a major role in his films. She further added that filmmakers wanted to cast a saleable face. She said that the lead roles featured Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil.
In an interview with a news agency, Neena said, “There was no chance of meeting the producer and director in commercial cinema.There was this parallel cinema and there again the main roles were going to Shabana (Azmi), Smita (Patil) and if it’s a small (film), then Deepti (Naval). We had no chance in these films also. Shyam (Benegal) never gave me a major role. I have always played smaller parts in his films. So, the situation was similar in commercial cinema. It is a business, they want to take a saleable face.”
The actress talked about the kind of roles she doesn't want to do. She said no to roles of mothers and said that it is good that people are looking at women in different spaces.
On the work front, Neena has Anurag Basu's 'Metro In Dino' in the pipeline. The film is set to hit the theatres on December 8, 2023. It also features Aditya Roy Kapur, Sara Ali Khan, Konkona Sensharma, Pankaj Tripathi, Fatima Sana Shaikh, and Ali Fazal in lead roles.