Sach Kahun Toh: An Autobiography

The best part of the book is Neena ji living life on her own terms

Just finished “Sach Kahun To”. Truly speaking her life is not a story but a legend. This book not only satisfied my curiosity to know her struggles but also was an eye opener to the lives of artists for non-artists. This book changed my perception towards looking at cinema artists who are seen living a very comfortable, luxy and glamorous life only while most of us remain unaware about the truth behind those overly makeup, perfect looking looks. Few takeaways are: Artists often are at a risk of being overtaken by the character which means immersing themselves so much into a character that sometimes they forget to discriminate between their real and fake self. Once, Neena was nearly suffocated to death by his playmate who pressed the pillow down on her face with all his muscle strength. Imagine playing a depressed role for long 6 months to shoot a series for almost 10 hrs of the day has a risk to push anyone into the real depression. After the famous hit “Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai”, she hardly got any work except handful stages shows that just helped her to make both ends meet. Also, National Awards only provide validation but do not ensure better roles in the times to come. Any accreditation into the life of a professional, say, MBA adds on to the better job prospects in the future but alas that is not the case in the life of artists. Behind all those glamour looking faces, there exists lot of insecurities, sacrifices and uncertainties. I was literally thinking comparatively how easy is the life of a pregnant woman who is working in an office with 9 to 5 shift where she only need to sit on a chair, do the job and leave on time. When Neena was 7 months pregnant, her job to make both ends meet demanded dancing and keeping herself in good shape and take the risk of doing some dance steps that could even lead to miscarriage. What kept her going to the shows nd take such risks? Her zeal to save some money in case she had to go through C-section. Just before her due date, she could manage to save only Rs. 2000 in her account (just enough to support her natural births) and she mentions Thank GOD, “I received Rs.10,000 as tax return finally being able to afford my C-section” to give birth to Masaba. Having worked with the top notch MNC in the past, my experience is no employee is discriminated for being junior or senior at workplace (thanks to the American culture). However, things do not generally operate the same way in the industry. The fierce categorization of A-grade heroin, senior artist, junior artists and being nobody is the established norm. Junior artists often have to stand in queue to get breakfast served and live in shanty hotels while senior artists live in 5 star accommodations. My favourite is the remark made by Shashi to Neena on a morning walk when Neena lost her stole in the car and asks Shashi the next day if the same Limousine is going to come back to the hotel? Shashi answers, “we often go to the big events as style icons and come back home as peasants”. Basically, the organisers of the famous award functions arrange expensive cars and stylists for the stars until the show begins to ensure their maximum TRP( you know all these mastheads where it reads Deepika Padukone looked stunning while arriving in Limousine at falana IIFA Award). However, when the show is over, all artists have to arrange their own taxis and pick up their suitcases by themselves and leave for their homes. Asha Bhosle learned this much earlier Neena mentions. Last chapter mentioned the evils of Indian parenting where parents usually think they own the child and forces their decisions onto their children which are usually a result of big egos and fake pride under the guise of love and care. One such unfortunate incident is- Neena’s mother and father had a love marriage, an inter-caste one. Her father post his marriage was forced by her grandfather to marry a girl of their caste to restore the lost pride (a norm that Baniyas should marry a Baniya only) and her father ended up dividing his day between 2 families and even meals until he was tired one day and left for Mt. Abu Ashram. There is a lot more in the book than I just mentioned. Trust me, spending may be 14 hours to read the book won’t be a regretful deal. After all, you will have the pleasure of meeting a tigress who dared to give birth out of a wedlock in 90s.

Straight from the heart - no muss, no fuss, no drama. Nina Gupta writes as she sees it and makes the book an excellent read. Loved it.

Very interesting book

I think one of the reasons I really enjoyed reading this book was because I really didn’t expect much from it. But I was pleasantly surprised as I found myself hooked to it as soon as I’d started reading. Neena Gupta draws you in gently as she introduces you to her life as a young girl from a middle-class family growing up in Delhi, to a Sanskrit scholar in Delhi University, to passionate student in NSD, to an exceptional actor who went on to win two National Awards. Gupta candidly talks about her struggles-personal, and professional, the mistakes she made along the way, and how she juggled being a single mother, while working a demanding twelve hour job as an actor in Bombay. I think one of the reasons I really loved this book was because Neena Gupta was never a “star”, she never got to be leading lady in a film, until very recently, and is a phenomenal actor who didn’t shy away from asking for work again after a long-ish break in her career. Sach Kahun Toh is a beautiful glimpse into the bittersweet life and career of a remarkable actor who after years of ups and downs has finally reached a place in her life where she is happy, and satisfied with all that she has achieved.