Neena Gupta reveals why she didn't stop Masaba Gupta from maintaining her relationship with Vivian Richards

Neena Gupta hass come a long way both in professional and personal life. There had been many ups and downs in her life but she fought against all odds, made bold choices, stood by them and continues to inspire women across the country. It's no secret that Neena was in a brief relationship with former West Indies cricketer Vivian Richards whom she had her love child Masaba Gupta with. And Neena never wish to poison the relation between her daughter and Vivian who never married the actress.

Of late, the veteran actress has been quite vocal about her raising a child being a single mother and how her father helped her raise Masaba and acted as a pillar of strength during her crucial time of life. And yet again, Neena has candidly spoken about having a child out of wedlock and what kind of relation her daughter and Vivian share.

Neena revealed that when she gave birth to Masaba, her friends sympathised with her saying that they will marry her so that her daughter will get a surname. "A lot of people started being sympathetic. My friends started telling me, 'Ill marry you, at least your daughter will have a surname. And I was like, just to give her a father's name, I'll get married. I told them I can fend for her myself and I started working relentlessly to make things work," Neena Gupta told Pinkvilla.

Speaking about not restricting Masaba to maintain her relationship with Vivian all these years, Neena said, "Yes, I was angry but I controlled my anger kyuki uski (Masaba) kya galti hai (because she's not at fault)? If me and her father didn't get along or we have to separate, if she wants to maintain her relationship, I will not stop her. And when you fall in love, you liked him that's why it happened na. If you separate, the guy won't become a bad guy right. I always say that. I don't hate my exes. Why should I? I was in love with them. I liked them at that time. So why should I have anything against them?"

Neena on Masaba's divorce

Masaba Gupta was earlier in news for her separation with husband Madhu Mantena. The two had issued a statement wherein they had said that they have amicably decided to part ways with each other and also requested people to give them their personal space. She was recently in news for getting officially divorced from her husband in September 2019. The news went unreported and Neena too had maintained a stoic silence until now.

Speaking about Masaba's divorce, Neena said, "I was devastated when I heard it. Actually, it was Masaba who helped me come to terms with it. Initially, I couldn't accept it at all and it affected me."

Neena further said that Masaba had told her about the idea of living in but at that time, she had objected to it. But today, she feels that with changing times, she wouldn't stop Masaba from going into a live-in relationship. "I feel today I'll tell her to go for a live in. Fayda kya hai, itna paisa kharcha karke shaadi Karo and phir divorce kar lo. Toh live in hi kar lol," she said.