Article: You can’t take me for granted:Neena

Neena Gupta's first reaction when she got to know she has been replaced by another actress in Kitani Mohabbat Hai, was that of relief. Surprised?

Neena Gupta

Well, so were we when Neena spoke to us about a recently published story, that claimed that she had been shown the door because of her unprofessional behaviour. "I had been telling the production house to replace me for the past one-and-a-half-months because I was very disturbed with the disorganised way of working on the sets," says Neena. Explaining further, she says, "They just wanted to work whenever they were ready with a scene. I would get a text in the middle of the night to call me for an urgent shoot the next day. The dates I gave them, I was never called to shoot on those days."

There were even times when she had to shoot for close-ups alone. "And let me tell you, that's the most disgusting way to shoot for any actor. I respect my profession too much to be treated this way," she says firmly.

Neena did send an SMS to producer Ekta Kapoor, asking her to fix the problems. "I have not received a reply till date. If she had atleast replied to my message then we could have parted on good terms. I have utmost respect for her, but she needs to get her scheduling organised," she says.

The last nail in the coffin came when Papiya Sengupta, the actress who's replaced Neena, called her up to tell her about the replacement. "It was very sweet of her to do that but it is the duty of the production house to call me instead of her," says Neena.

With a huge body of work behind her, Neena believes she didn't deserve to be treated so unceremoniously. She says, "I have been very good to them and have gone out of my way to adjust to their 'urgent' schedules. But I have done a lot of serious work and I'm respected as an actor. You can't take me for granted!"