Neena Gupta

Neena Gupta, who was a part of the avant-garde movement -- also known as the parallel movement -- in Indian cinema, says she has never been in a better place as an actor. She feels television gave her a new lease of life. In the 1970s and 1980s, when Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani and Kundan Shah spearheaded the parallel movement in Hindi cinema, the plum roles in all the prestigious realistic films went to Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil. Neena was left with the leftovers.