Masaba Gupta On Neena Gupta's Reaction To Her Song Khumaari In Kesari 2: 'My Mother Was Actually Very Shocked'
Masaba Gupta has once again turned heads—this time, not with her fashion but with her fiery on-screen presence in 'Kesari Chapter 2: The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh'.
Masaba Gupta has once again turned heads—this time, not with her fashion but with her fiery on-screen presence in 'Kesari Chapter 2: The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh'. Masaba appears in the track 'Khumaari', a moody cabaret-style number set in the 1920s, composed by Kavita Seth and Kanishk Seth.
How Masaba got the song offer
In a conversation with SCREEN, Masaba shared how she landed the role, prepared for it, and whether she’s open to doing more such performances. Masaba recalled getting the offer just a week before her wedding. “So, I actually got a call from Panchami Ghauri, who is the casting director for the film, I think a week before I was getting married, back in 2023… I just said yes, because I’ve been a dancer my whole life actually, and I’ve always wanted to do something like this.” She added that the film’s vintage setting and her lifelong love for dance made this offer irresistible.
Masaba credited choreographer Vijay Ganguly, with whom she had trained during her Shiamak Davar days, for helping her polish the performance in under three days. “For some reason in my head, I was trying to reference Catherine Zeta-Jones… and a more toned down version of it,” she said.
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As for her look in the song, Masaba said she trusted the team completely, especially costume designer Sheetal Sharma. “I like to really shut off the designer brain… Sheetal (Sharma) did the costume, he’s done Gangubai Kathiawadi as well… the costume really lifts the whole performance.”
On being asked whether her unconventional looks had any bearing on landing such roles, she said, “I think it will continue to be an issue in terms of the way I look because I don’t look like a conventional Indian heroine… But the fact is that whatever is my disadvantage is also my biggest advantage.”
Masaba made it clear that she never judged the size of a role. “My agenda when Masaba Masaba did well was that I will never have an ego about the size of the role that I get. I will always be very clear and have an ego about the impact of that role.”
On the song perceived as an item song
When asked whether she was worried about Khumaari being perceived as an ‘item’ song, Masaba dismissed the notion. “No, I was not concerned that it would be an item song… anything that you do which has a period nuance attached to it, automatically in my head, is elevated from being an item song.”
Samantha's performance an inspiration for the song
In fact, she cited Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s powerful performance in Oo Antava as inspiration. “When I saw that song, I manifested this number in my head because I wanted to do what Samantha did and I wanted the impact to be similar.”
She also weighed in on the broader debate about objectification in item numbers. “Objectifying women is not something I would ever stand for, but I do think that it’s something that one has to be extremely careful about… When I heard Khumaari, I thought it was so beautiful. It’s about lost love and it’s about longing.”
On Neena Gupta's reaction
Masaba shared that her mother, veteran actress Neena Gupta, was completely taken by surprise. “My mother was actually very shocked because she was like, when did you do this and how did you do this and what’s happening… but she was very happy because she always thought that I would dance.”
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