Actor Neena Gupta says she holds no grudge against ex-beau cricketer Vivian Richards

Veteran actor Neena Gupta has impressed audiences with her performances for a long time and aspires to stay real on-screen and off of it, too. In a recent interview, she got candid about her personal life and talked mostly about her past relationship with legendary West Indies cricketer Vivian Richards and how it impacted their daughter, Masaba.

Neena Gupta revealed that she holds no grudge against Richards or her exes. She said that she believed once you love someone, you cannot hate that person. Maybe you cannot stay together because of differences, but there’s no hate for her ex-boyfriends and husband. She further added, directing Richards, that if she hated him, she wouldn’t have had a baby with the former cricketing giant.

Romance began in 1980s

The two met in the 1980s, and a romance happened. Richards was captaining the West Indies during an Indian tour, and Neena Gupta was carving a name for herself in the Hindi film industry.

Richards was separated from the time with two children. The media already highly criticized the relationship when the couple decided to take things a step further by having a baby out of wedlock.

Even though raised by orthodox parents in a society that looks down on such things, Neena Gupta wasn’t going to be held down by social norms.

Masaba was born
Going against the wishes of her family and friends, Neena gave birth to Masaba.

In the same interview, Masaba commented that her mother never poisoned her relationship with her father. She added that she shares a great relationship with Richards because of the liberty her mother has given her in making her own decisions.

Earlier in another interview, Neena talked about her relationship with Masaba. Despite not living together, she said that the two stay in constant touch. They are so close that people are surprised when they find out that they call each other almost twice a day.

Netflix Series
The mother-daughter duo recently shared the screen in the Netflix series Masaba Masaba. The series has an equal dose of reality and fiction in its second season.

It must have been a struggle for Neena Gupta to juggle life between being a single mom and working in the film industry, where your every move is scrutinized and criticized. But she has never let the unpleasant things written about her relationship with Richards affect her personal life. And it seems like nothing has changed over the years, and she remains a trailblazer.