Neha Dhupia: When I Find Someone Worth It, I Promise I Will Get Married

After starring in several Bollywood films, Neha Dhupia is all set to debut as a chat show host with #NoFilterNeha in association with Saavn music app. Interestingly, the actress’ recently-launched production house -- Big Girl Productions -- is also producing the venture. The app will air 12 episodes of the show starting 4th October, every Tuesday. While it has Karan Johar as Neha’s first guest, expect many big names from the industry talking to the actress in their #NoFilter avatar. Exciting, isn’t it? SpotboyE.com caught up with her for an exclusive conversation. Excerpts: 

Tell us about your chat show.
It’s a show for the audio medium called #NoFilterNeha. You will see me chatting to my friends in the industry about things that haven’t been spoken about before. Saavn thought it was a good idea and the association just happened. The audio medium is a far more relaxing place to chat up as compared to television.

Who is #NoFilterNeha?
She is the Neha you usually see when the camera is turned off. It’s not just me, but the entire show which is going to be ‘no filter’. Be it Sonam (Kapoor), Kareena (Kapoor) or Ranbir (Kapoor), no matter who comes to the show, listeners are going to hear their #NoFilter self. We are trying to tap ‘andar se kuch aur’ version of the celebs because they are normal people at the end of the day. We also plan to invite personalities from other fields such as Yuvraj Singh and Chetan Bhagat to name a few. 


Image Source: piccs

Since the show will air on an audio medium, how do you plan to keep it engaging?
Saavn keeps around 20 million people engaged with their music, so a little bit of my wit coupled with guests’ wit, humour and intelligence, will keep our listeners engaged. Audio chat show is a new format but it is a market, which is opening up. We hope we can bring about a change. Everybody is someone’s fan, so people would love to hear about them.

How different will it be from a FM show?
We are trying to keep it as different as possible. Firstly, this is not going to be a radio show. Secondly, this is not in an interview format. For me, the guests aren’t celebs; they are friends who are famous and we will be ‘in conversation’. We will be providing a new and an improved version of an audio chat show. We have shot a few episodes and the format is really witty.

Are you nervous?
No nervousness as such, but I’ll share an interesting bit about my first episode. Karan Johar is my first guest and although we are good friends, I was nervous about interviewing him because he is such a good talker, he has a show of his own and I knew that if I slipped even slightly, he would catch it. I did tell him about my nervousness later though. Having said that, I have a great team backing me. When it comes to being the face of the show along with being the producer, my team members take up more than one role.


Image Source:  Manav Manglani & twitter/NehaDhupia

How did you prep for the show?
We had a fun prep and apart from making calls to the respective people, we got in touch with their friends who helped us get an insight into their lives. When we are talking to Karan, we won’t talk to him about cinema, but the KJo people don’t know. When we are talking to Yuvraj or Sonam, it won’t be about cricket or fashion. We would be asking her (Sonam) about Harshvardhan’s girlfriend among other things. They (the stars) have said things which I couldn’t even think of. They have shocked me and surprised me.

What about your inhibitions?
All my famous friends who have come on the show are so sporting that there were no inhibitions. #NoFilterNeha on Saavn will be able to engage more audience and create more audio show fans.

Which talk show host inspires you?
In India, obviously Karan Johar. He is fantastic. Internationally, I like Ellen (DeGeneres) and am a big fan of Jimmy Kimmel. I love him because he talks to the celeb about everything except what the celeb is on the show for. Information about a celeb is already available on various sites, but he brings out facts like what they did last night, their weekend plans among others, which is great.

What plans do you have with your production house?
My production house – Big Girl Productions – is focusing on good content. We are aware of the fact that whatever sells in this day and age is good content. Now whether that content takes shape of a film, web series, television or a chat show – I don’t know what the next step is. No big plans, but big dreams with Big Girl.

Shoojit Sircar’s Pink sent a very strong message across – when a woman says NO, she means NO. Have you ever faced such a situation when you had to say NO?
It’s a very loaded question. Pink is a film which makes you weak at the knees when you watch it and leaves you stronger when you exit the theatre. It has got a very strong message. I have ‘the NO means NO situation’ very differently in my head. Sometimes you just say NO, but you have conflict in your mind going on. In reference to the film, I haven’t been through such a situation.


Image Source: bigdays

You are 36 years old. Do questions on marriage bother you?
I used to be asked these (marriage) questions when I was 25-26. Now that I am in my 30s, people have assumed that I am not going to marry. The intention is to find someone for whom it is worth taking that leap for. I am paranoid about sharing my bedroom and bathroom with another person. When I find someone worth it, I promise I will get married.


Thumbnail Image Source: telfie