Sach Kahun Toh by Neena Gupta

 

'Sach Kahun Toh' is a very candid autobiography of Neena Gupta. Her initial years, a young girl of a middle-class girl of Karol Bagh, New Delhi, getting a degree from the National School of Drama, landing up in Mumbai, struggling in film city, and ending up with just B Class roles in movies are very well described by her. It is heartening to read about the struggles of not-so-successful actors in Film City, hoping to get cast as heroine one day, surviving on doing minor roles, ad films, supporting roles, etc. The entire life of her, in the first person, is beautifully described in utmost honesty. 

She chose to give birth to her daughter born out of her relationship with West Indies Cricketer Vivian Richards. That created a kind of image that was not so good for her career. However, she moved on relentlessly, surviving as a single mother of a girl in the world of glamour. She ultimately got cast as 'heroine' in the movie 'Badhai Ho', where she played the role of a woman who becomes the mother of a child, quite late in life. 

Unlike her image of a  'Bad' girl, she comes out a quite simple, average, honest woman whom we come across every day. 

Just about 300 pages, it is an extremely readable book.