Neena Gupta Calls Debut Film ‘Saath Saath’ Her Biggest Mistake, Recalls Girish Karnad Said ‘You’re Finished’

Neena Gupta is undeniably one of the most talented and versatile actresses in the film industry. While she has worked in numerous films over the years, her journey hasn’t been an easy one. The actress has experienced her fair share of ups and downs. In an interview with ANI, the ‘Badhaai Ho’ actress recalled her early years in the film industry. She admitted that her debut film Saath Saath (1982) was the biggest mistake of her career, and that she was not offered leading lady roles after that. She recalled that actor-director Girish Karnad had predicted this at the film’s premiere, and that he was right.

Neena Gupta Says Saath Saath Ended Her Career

While speaking with ANI, Neena Gupta said that doing the 1982 film Saath Saath turned out to be

the ‘biggest disaster’ of her career. In the film, she played the role of a young, bespectacled ‘know-it-all’ girl. The film also starred Farooq Shaikh, Deepti Naval and Satish Shah. While her role was loved, and the film emerged as a huge hit, Neena Gupta believes it gave her an image that led filmmakers to stop seeing her as a leading heroine.

“The biggest mistake I made was doing Saath Saath. I played the role of a ‘lallu ladki’ (a silly, know-it-all girl). The film became such a big hit, I thought I had arrived. There was a party for the premiere, and Girish Karnad, who knew me from NSD, came up to me. He told me, ‘Now you’re finished. You’ll never get a heroine role.’ And that’s exactly what happened,” recalled Neena Gupta.

She further advised young actors, especially girls who want to become lead actresses, to avoid doing comedy films at the beginning of their career. “Once you do that, people can’t imagine you as a heroine anymore. I was offered at least eight such roles. Mehmood was so good-looking, handsome, and a great actor, but did he ever get a hero’s role?” she said.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Neena Gupta is gearing up for the release of Vadh 2 with Sanjay Mishra. Written and directed by Jaspal Singh Sandhu, the film is produced by Luv Ranjan and Ankur Garg under the banner of Luv Films. The sequel returns Sanjay Mishra and Neena Gupta to a morally complex world driven by quiet tension and high emotional stakes—this time with the consequences dialled up even further.  A Luv Films presentation, Vadh 2 is set to release theatrically on 6 February 2026.