Neena Gupta reveals losing a role to her friend Sunita Rajwar

Neena Gupta reprises her role as Manju Devi in 'Panchayat Season 3', embodying the village Pradhan of Phulera. Her portrayal has earned accolades for its sincerity. During the show's promotion, Neena confessed to feeling jealous when other actors landed roles she had auditioned for or been considered for, despite her friendships with numerous senior figures in the industry.
Speaking to India Today, Neena shared an incident where a young filmmaker approached her for a role.Later, she discovered that the same filmmaker had also contacted actor Sunita Rajwar, who happens to be Neena’s good friend. Reflecting on this, Neena wondered why the filmmaker would reach out to both of them without considering her for the role. Despite their close friendship, Neena humorously pointed out the stark differences in their appearances, questioning how both could be suitable for the same role.
Neena Gupta also revealed that she sometimes feels envious when she loses out on a project to a peer. The actress said that there's a bit of jealousy. She feels envious when her friends or contemporaries land a role and she doesn't, but she also takes it in good spirits.
Sunita, who plays the role of Kranti Devi in Panchayat, recently showcased her film, 'Santosh', at the 77th Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard section. With a career spanning two decades, she has been part of several notable films, like 'Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon', 'Ek Chalis Ki Last Local', 'Kedarnath', 'Stree', 'Bala', and 'Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan'.
'Panchayat 3' stars Jitendra Kumar, Raghubir Yadav, Neena Gupta, Sanvikaa, Chandan Roy, Faisal Malik, Durgesh Kumar, Sunita Rajwar, and Pankaj Jha.