"I'm on the same list as Alia & Neena Gupta": Neha Dhupia opens on backlash over pregnancy before marriage

Neha Dhupia has never shied away from speaking her mind, especially when it comes to her personal life and motherhood. In a recent chat with Midday India, the actor looked back at the time when she and Angad Bedi tied the knot, only to find themselves at the centre of a storm of gossip.

Neha and Angad had an intimate Anand Karaj ceremony at a Delhi gurdwara on May 10, 2018, attended by only close family and friends. Just six months later, in November, the couple welcomed their first child, daughter Mehr Dhupia Bedi. What should have been a joyful time for the new parents quickly turned into a subject of unnecessary speculation.

Recalling the chatter around her wedding, Neha shared that people kept asking how the baby was born in six months, as if the timeline was a bigger headline than their marriage itself. “Even now, I come across stories and tags on actresses who got pregnant before marriage. And I feel, well, at least I’m on the same list as Neena Gupta and Alia Bhatt. But honestly, this is ridiculous. Pregnancy is beautiful, and that’s it,” she said with her trademark candour.

While the trolling could have broken her spirit, Neha instead turned it into motivation. The criticism inspired her to launch Freedom to Feed, a platform encouraging open conversations around motherhood, breastfeeding, and women’s health without stigma. For her, normalising these discussions is the need of the hour, because too many women are still made to feel judged or silenced.

Neha and Angad’s love story has only grown stronger over the years. After Mehr’s arrival in 2018, the couple was blessed again in 2021 with their son, Guriq Singh Dhupia Bedi. Together, they often share glimpses of their happy family moments, proving that love and partnership are far bigger than the judgments of outsiders.

Looking back, Neha has made peace with the noise. What could have been a painful chapter in her life has become a reminder of her strength and her refusal to be boxed into societal expectations. And in her words, pregnancy, no matter when it happens, deserves celebration, never shame.