Neena Gupta has never been afraid to tell it like it is. And, she did it again at FICCI Frames 2025. With her trademark honesty, the veteran actress opened up about what happens to actors when the cameras stop loving their age.
Speaking at the media and entertainment summit in Mumbai, Neena reflected on her journey, her comeback years, and the bittersweet reality of being an older woman in an industry that often forgets what to do with you once you stop fitting into its narrow boxes.
“There was a time when I was getting very good roles,” she said. “I was so happy doing projects that matched my age and personality. But then suddenly, some of the projects I had said yes to just disappeared. I asked my manager what happened. They were such exciting roles for me.”
She paused, then offered a reason. “Big film producers started coming into OTT. Earlier, small-budget OTT filmmakers used to bring great stories to me. Now, when the big producers stepped in, everything changed. Those smaller films never got made.”
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Neena Gupta’s career, after all, has been proof that reinvention is possible. From ‘Badhaai Ho’ to ‘Panchayat’, she has built a powerful second act in her 60s, inspiring actors and audiences alike. Yet even she admits the struggle is real. “They just stopped writing for us,” she said, with quiet resignation.
The 25th edition of FICCI Frames, held on October 7–8 in Mumbai, brought together some of the biggest names in the business. The two-day summit featured industry heavyweights like Ekta Kapoor, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Hansal Mehta, Shoojit Sircar, and Kiran Rao. On stage, stars like Pratik Gandhi, Huma Qureshi, Konkona Sen Sharma, Divya Dutta, and Rajpal Yadav joined Neena Gupta in discussing how the entertainment landscape is changing.
The opening day also saw Akshay Kumar and Ayushmann Khurrana sharing their experiences with the evolving film industry and audience expectations.