In Chandigarh, designer Masaba Gupta says her mother Neena Gupta has been a big force behind shaping her career

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Celebrity fashion designer and actor Masaba Gupta was at the Chandigarh Design Festival, organised by the Chitkara University, on Saturday. The vivacious personality spread her infectious energy in the session on ‘Fashion Forward: Charting the Course for India’s Fashion Design Industry on a Global Stage’.

Talking of her initial career in fashion designing, Masaba calls it a fluke. But then she worked hard, due to her strict critic of a mother — Neena Gupta. She says, “She has always been real and honest. She never wanted me to act. When I was on the sets of my Netflix series, Masaba Masaba, the first scene I got was with my mother. We didn’t have to speak to others, but it was more about exchange of expressions in the scene. The minute it ended, she told me how bad I was as an actor in front of 100 crew members! And I did take it seriously and was willing to work on it. She didn’t even rehearse with me for she knew that was something I had to deal with alone.”

As the two seasons strike a chord with the audience, she still humbly admits that she has long way to go. “My mother says the little that I can act is surely because of her genes.” But Masaba feels it’s the sense of humour that she has acquired from her mother’s side that will always guide her journey. Hence the mocumentary, Masaba Masaba comes straight from the funny and real ladies — Masaba and Neena.

Personal note

And what of father, Vivian Richards? To the surprise of many, she shares, “I used to play professional tennis and I feel it has a lot to do with how my personality is. When you are in an individual game, you alone are responsible for your failures and can make amends. So, I am a big advocate of sports for every child.”

She says a lot has changed in the world of fashion designing, so she tells budding artistes to go beyond textbooks. She adds, “My mentor Wendell Rodericks had advised me against internship, which technically means I didn’t complete my course. I am not advocating that but sharing what he said, ‘Don’t be watered-down version of some big designer, rather be the first in what you feel you can do best.” In fact, Masaba feels there’s opportunity in every difficulty.

The designer has come a long way from starting with her actress mother, Neena Gupta, at the age of 19 in a one bedroom to owning a showroom in Mumbai, which she still is expanding in Delhi’s Khan Market. The 2023 goal is to own an international store, but she has good news for tricity people – she is opening a store in Chandigarh in the coming month!