Neha Dhupia: Don’t need to sacrifice professional dreams

Neha Dhupia plays a cop in Sanak

When we get on a call with Neha Dhupia, we hear the newborn's cries before the actor's voice. Naturally then, we begin by asking if she has decided on a name for her son yet. "Angad [Bedi, husband] and I keep vetoing each other's suggestions, and are yet to find a middle ground," laughs the second-time mother. After welcoming her baby boy on October 3, the actor soon threw herself into the promotions for Sanak that dropped online yesterday. "Angad is shouldering a lot of responsibilities with Mehr [daughter]. The little one is more dependent on me right now."

The couple became proud parents to a baby boy on October 3

Sanak is a typical Vidyut Jammwal fare, loaded with action. "While it's very much his film, I play a cop and have a strong [track]. It was only towards the fag end of filming Sanak that I realised I was pregnant. I shot the film in my first trimester." Dhupia also plays a pregnant cop in her next, A Thursday.

Taking a sabbatical was out of question for her during both pregnancies. She asserts that it's essential to change societal attitude and show that motherhood has little impact on one's professional life. "They make us stronger, not weaker. We don't need to sacrifice either professional dreams or personal aspirations. I shot a movie when I was eight months pregnant. I did that because I had become another person the first time around. I didn't want to go there again. I didn't want to be in a dark and lonely space, sitting at home. I focussed on being happy." Dhupia is proud that she pulled off two movies during her pregnancy. "It was a big win to be back on Roadies when Mehr was 45 days old, and breastfeed her through its making. But is there scope to make it more inclusive for women to start families? Of course. We could be more relaxed if our personal decisions didn't affect our careers."

Also read: 'I was working through labour and contractions; was in the middle of shooting'