Exclusive! Uunchai actress Neena Gupta: Sooraj Barjatya is very patient with crew members and actors, there’s no retakes

Veteran actress Neena Gupta has joined hands with filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya for the first time. She also makes her debut collaboration with actor Boman Irani in Sooraj’s upcoming movie, Uunchai. 

In an exclusive conversation with OTTplay, the actress opens up on her character in the film as well as what makes the Rajshri Productions film so special for every actor. 

The story of the movie is based on the journey of three friends - Amit, Om and Javed - who are in their early 60s and one day, they decided to climb Mount Everest in memory of their friend, Bhupen. 

Neena spoke to OTTplay about her character in the film. She said, "I am playing the character of Shabina, wife of Javed that is played by Boman. There is an interesting character graph she has in the film. Initially, it starts as how any elderly couples are - their daughter is married. Shabina's life is revolving around her husband, his food, medicine, their lifestyle etc. It’s a very regular life until one day something happens and then their lives changed." 

This is the first time Neena is seen working with Boman in a film and according to the actress, there was no ice-breaking moment. 

Sharing one such anecdote, Neena said, "I have worked with Anupam a lot so he is one of my buddies since a long time. I met the rest of the team be it Sarika, Boman and everyone, I joined a little later. They shot before me. But honestly, even Boman told me that it felt like we are meeting a member of our family. Even though there were so many actors on the set, no one was shouting at anyone. Everything was very nicely executed." 

Interestingly, this was also the first time that Neena worked with the director Sooraj Barjatya who is known for delivering some of the much-celebrated films of Indian cinema, be it Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! and Vivah among others. 

The veteran actor pointed out how the director's energy reflects in his film. 

"You know I always say that you really can see a director through a film. Sooraj ji really is a very warm-hearted person. So, the positive energy that you see in the film is who Sooraj ji is. The outdoors was not easy but one has to see how patient Sooraj ji is when he is handling so many crew members with such ease. He is also very patient with actors. He would sit with every actor and brief them every day on what exactly happened in the last scene and how we will take it from there. And the best part is, he has clarity. He does not take multiple takes, which usually makes an actor exhausted," said Neena. 

The film Uunchai, produced by Rajshri Productions, also marks 75 years as one of the old and iconic production houses of the country. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani, Sarika, Neena Gupta, Anupam Kher, Parineeti Chopra and Danny Danzonpa, among others, the movie is slated to release theatrically on November 11.