Neha Dhupia says A Thursday director changed film's script for her: 'Not like cops do not get pregnant'

Neha Dhupia talks about losing out on projects when she got pregnant with her son, Guriq last year, and shares why she is not upset about it.

Neha Dhupia has said that she lost out on a few projects during her second pregnancy last year. In a new interview with Hindustan Times, she talked about the opportunity that Behzad Khambata offered her by making changes in his script for A Thursday. She also said that she did lose out on a few projects when she was pregnant with her son, Guriq.

Neha Dhupia plays a pregnant cop in the film A Thursday.

Neha had Guriq in October last year, a month after she completed the shoot for A Thursday. Talking to Hindustan Times, Neha said, “Would I say I wasn't fired from different projects (during her second pregnancy)? I was. Am I upset about it? I am not. Just for that one moment, (you feel bad). You're like 'oh my God I am not a part of the project but then maybe as an actor physically, I was required to look a certain way and I wasn't fit for the role. Behzad worked around it and was ready to shoot when I could. He had shot one or two days, and told me he will reshoot it.”

Neha said that she bagged A Thursday before her pregnancy. “I was hired to do the part when I wasn't pregnant. Then there was the second wave (of coronavirus) and everybody went away without knowing what was going to happen. I got pregnant. So, then, I went to Behzad and asked him ‘Are you okay taking me in the film? I was also hired for the way I looked. What I look like now is completely different'. And he did not even think for a second. He instantly said that he'd definitely take me. He said 'Not like cops do not get pregnant.' He believed I was fit for the part. And, he worked around it.”

When we called Behzad's gesture sweet, Neha said, “Using a word like sweet would be an understatement. For me, it was more about (the fact that an opportunity was created to ensure that a pregnant woman could work in the film). It is often believed like 'okay she's married, then there will be children and then there'll be a sabbatical and then a comeback'. I would also wonder (earlier) if I could ever have (that journey) because obviously there will be my professional aspirations and my personal dreams. I am grateful that Behzad took that chance on me." She insisted that she is talking about it so that more avenues open up for women who want to work during their pregnancies.

Slated for a release on Disney+ Hostar,  A Thursday shows Neha as a pregnant cop, and Yami essays the role of a young school teacher who turns into a kidnapper. Atul Kulkarni is seen as a police officer while Dimple Kapadia features as the prime minister of India in the film.

Talking about the discomfort she felt while shooting, Neha said, "It was discomfort more than pain. Because every woman who has been pregnant would know you get those fake contractions and all. I was touching week 36 towards the end of our shoot. We shot till September and Guriq was born in the first week of October. There are gunshots in the film. I was worried and asked my gynecologist ‘Is this loud noise gonna bother my child or wake up my child?’ She told me ‘No, no. Do what you have to’."

Neha added, “The shooting was physically tough, especially because of the rains. I would be drenched all day. The jeans would stick to my legs and I would just stay on the sets. Everyone would ask me to go and get some rest in my trailer but I couldn't make it back. The steps on the trailer were so high. I could not do so many things.”

She also said that she grew two sizes during the film. “I was finishing my sixth month when we did fittings and then I went up by two sizes every time I'd come back and say my button is not shutting. But no crazy cravings or anything as such. I had morning sickness so for a 7 am call time, I'd wake up at 5 am throwing up and then later ask for a break on set because I was up so early.”