Bollywood actress Neena Gupta’s daughter and fashion designer Masaba Gupta recalled her childhood days with her father, former cricketer Vivian Richards. For the uninitiated, Neena and the West Indies’ former cricketer welcomed Masaba in 1989, without getting married. She was raised by the actress as a single mother, who later married Vivek Mehra in 2008.
Talking to Curly Tales, the fashion designer said that she spent her childhood days travelling the world. “I spent my childhood travelling the world which I think is possibly the best-case scenario for a kid. But I was born and brought up in Bombay and I’m a hardcore Mumbai girl. In fact, I can’t be in another city unless it’s for work or whatever for more than a couple of days. I’ve always been a Juhu girl, that’s the neighbourhood.”
She continued, “Whenever I had the time or a break from school or something like that we were always on a flight somewhere. My dad at that time was very actively doing commentary and we would just travel with him. We’d go to England and we’d go to Africa and we’d go all over the place. So yeah I always say I’m a travelling baby but my heart is in Mumbai.”
In an old interview, Neena had opened up about the presence of Masaba’s father, Vivian Richards in her life. She revealed earlier their daughter used to be quite upset as she felt Vivian did not keep in touch with them. Later, she helped Masaba understand her father.
The actress explained to the fashion designer that Vivian wasn’t a “family man”. During an interview with a leading daily in 2015, Neena revealed that the West Indies cricketer wasn’t briefly in touch with them when Masaba was growing up. He used to call on some special occasions like their daughter’s birthday. At times he would even come to meet the mother and daughter. But then he completely disappeared for as long as three years. However, after she turned 20, he usually contacted her. She explained that since Vivian isn’t “net savvy”, it is difficult to remain in “touch with him”.
