Masaba Gupta Breaks Down as She Reveals the ‘Cruel’ Media Scrutiny Behind Her Birth Certificate Leak

Fashion designer and actor Masaba Gupta shares the deeply painful memory of her birth certificate being stolen from the hospital and leaked to the media in 1989. This intrusive act was deliberately intended to sensationalise her birth out of wedlock to actress Neena Gupta and cricketer Sir Vivian Richards. Masaba discusses the immense emotional cruelty of the incident, which primarily impacted her mother, highlighting the severe challenges women in the entertainment industry face when defying societal norms.

TellychakkarTeam on Thu, 12/04/2025 - 00:52

MUMBAI: Masaba Gupta is a renowned Indian fashion designer and actress, best known as the founder of the chic label House of Masaba.

She is the daughter of veteran actress Neena Gupta and legendary West Indies cricketer Sir Vivian Richards, who raised her as a single mother.

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In a deeply personal and emotional conversation, Masaba Gupta recently shared the painful memory of her birth certificate being stolen and published in the media shortly after she was born in 1989.

Masaba was born out of wedlock, a decision her mother made with immense courage against conservative societal standards.

Speaking candidly at a public event, Masaba recounted the intrusive and shocking lengths the press went to, simply to confirm her parentage and assign a derogatory label. The purpose of the leak was highly sensationalised.

She stated, "My birth certificate was stolen from the hospital I was born in, and then it was leaked to the press. It was on the front page of a newspaper because someone wanted to prove that I was an illegitimate child."

Masaba explained that while she did not fully grasp the magnitude of the scandal as an infant, she became aware of the implications around the age of nine or ten.

The emotional impact, she stressed, was primarily on her mother, Neena Gupta, who was navigating life as an independent woman and a single mother in the public eye.

Recalling the deliberate cruelty, Masaba tearfully reflected, "It was cruel, strange and very bad for my mother. I can sit here and feel sad about it, but I don’t really know how she did it."

She expressed enduring confusion and distress over the relentless scrutiny, adding, "People in general are very cruel, and I don’t understand why people had to do that.

I keep hearing that 'showbiz is like this', but this is unacceptable."

Neena Gupta has also previously mentioned that the document was allegedly procured by a journalist, Pritish Nandy, who published the details in a magazine, solidifying the public’s knowledge of Masaba's father’s identity.

Masaba and Neena faced highlights the significant challenges and judgmental environment that women in the entertainment industry often contend with, especially when they defy traditional norms to raise their children independently.

Veteran actress Neena Gupta and former West Indies cricketer Vivian Richards were in a relationship during the 1980s. In 1989, Neena chose to raise their daughter, Masaba Gupta, as a single mother after Richards, who was married, did not leave his wife.

Neena later found love and married Vivek Mehra in a private ceremony in 2008.

Meanwhile, Masaba Gupta began her own family journey, marrying actor Satyadeep Mishra in 2023.

The couple welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Matara, in October of last year.

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