The 8th edition of Barkha Dutt’s We The Women festival in Mumbai turned into an unexpectedly candid space as Sidharth Malhotra and Masaba Gupta opened up about two very different yet equally personal journeys — the struggle to find a foothold in Bollywood, and the emotional reality of new motherhood.
Sidharth Malhotra, who joined Barkha for a conversation to kick off the event, revisited the uncertainty and grit of his early years in the industry. Reflecting on how he chose acting despite coming from an army family, he said, “My father and I had discussed very early on about what I would want to do with my life. Very early in my teen years I had faced a small camera, had a little bit of that performance aspect and just being in front of stage and giving different emotions but the journey took many many years.”
The actor also shared how his first big break never materialised, forcing him into survival mode when he moved to Mumbai in his early twenties. “The actual journey took very long. I was 21 or 22 when I decided to come to Mumbai, thinking that I had bagged a film in Hindi cinema at that time. One year goes by, the film never took-off,” he admitted. Recounting his early days of house-hunting and makeshift living arrangements, Sidharth added, “When I first came in, the production house and director that kind of signed me, I stayed in their editing studio, because that was the only place with a long sofa. So at night they put me there for like a week and then in the day I used to be out since they used to edit.”
Designer and entrepreneur Masaba Gupta later joined Barkha Dutt along with gynecologist Dr. Nozer Sheriar, where she spoke with honesty about navigating postpartum emotions while balancing work and motherhood. “I feel for me it has been scattered. Even as we speak I’m struggling with some form of postpartum, I don’t know what it is. It is strange, but I think just yesterday I had like three breakdowns throughout the day, multiple times. One time I was just reading to her and I broke down, because I was thinking that I’m going to be in the US for the next five days and what would happen,” she shared.
Masaba also reflected on the scrutiny her mother, actor Neena Gupta, faced while raising her as a single parent. Revisiting a particularly painful incident, she said, “My birth certificate when I was born was stolen from the hospital and leaked to the press and was on the front page of a paper because someone wanted to prove that I was an illegitimate child. I think I understood it when I was maybe 9 or 10, Barkha. I don’t think I fully understood it but saw versions of it. I didn’t understand why it was done – cruel, strange and very bad for my mom.”
With unfiltered insights into resilience, vulnerability, and personal battles, Sidharth and Masaba’s conversations brought depth to the festival’s celebration of women’s stories and the journeys behind them.
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