At Pinkvilla, we are all about celebrating womanhood and entertainment. In Season 3 of Woman Up we will connect with extraordinary women in the industry. In the second episode of the segment, we are joined by none other than former beauty queen, actress, host and a proud mother, Neha Dhupia Bedi.
We asked Neha to shed some light on how she thinks things are changing for pregnant women in the film industry with actors like her and Kareena Kapoor Khan working while they are expecting. Responding to this, Neha lauded those who pave the way for pregnant women to work in the industry, she said, “I think the game is changing as far as women in business are concerned. Is. But you have to make that work. You have to go there and ask for it. I really respect Karina and her for what she has done, but also hate people who make way for pregnant women to do things. ,
Neha further says that many times she was also asked to withdraw from a project because she was pregnant. The actress said, "As you know, I had stuff that was coming my way, but I was asked to step down because they were like 'Okay, well, you're pregnant, you can't do that'. And you're like 'Well, maybe this role isn't required and you can't figure it out, and you just have to wait and you part ways amicably.
Neha then spoke about her experience with the makers of her film A Thursday and how she reacted to the news about her pregnancy. “I was literally sitting here and I met my director Behzad Khambata, who has directed A Thursday. He hired me as a cop who wasn't pregnant, and then there was a second wave and there was a gap of five months. So, I went back to him, and I told him, listen, I really want to do this movie and I'm pregnant and he called Ronnie Screwvala and they both won. And I still remember, I had my phone face-time with my producer, with another producer of mine, Looping, and believe it or not, they both said, 'What are you trying to tell us? That cops don't get pregnant or women cops don't get pregnant?'" the actress said.
She could not appreciate the makers for the way she dealt with the situation. Neha said, "Hello! These are men! We don't always have to say it's about women. You know, this bunch of boys, or the bunch of men who are making this film, who took it And who would not have thought for a second, and put me in this project. I am not even sure that an eight months pregnant actress is taken as eight months pregnant in the Indian film industry.
While we applauded her for deciding to work through such a challenging phase of pregnancy, she couldn't stress enough how difficult it was. "Tough, tough, tough, tough, tough, tough, tough! I can't say it too many times. I can't tell you the technicalities of being eight months pregnant and playing a cop and being a covid. We're just another The wave had come out and I just wanted to do it and the support I got from everyone was something else,” Neha said.
We also asked Neha about the projects she was asked to skip due to her pregnancy. She replied, "I was asked to withdraw from other projects as well, but then, you know, mind you, and if there are three people who said 'no', and there was one person who said 'yes', So I think I've paved the way for women not to take such a long sabbatical. Women who go and have kids come back to work - yes. Women who have continued to have kids, work Do, are pregnant - yes. But to be able to be on screen, play a character, and as you know, 'it would be cool'. I'm hoping that something like this, somewhere a little Open the door or window."