Casting Director's Remark Stole My Smile for 10 Years, Reveals Neha Dhupia

(Digital Itla) Mumbai: Strict standards of external beauty and derogatory remarks directed at newcomers are nothing new in the Bollywood industry. Now, renowned actress Neha Dhupia has shared a bitter incident from the start of her career that shook her confidence for years. Neha Dhupia and her husband, actor Angad Bedi, recently hosted actress Huma Qureshi and her brother Saqib Saleem on their show Double Date. Chatting during the show, Neha recalled a painful incident from her early days. Sharing the experience, Neha said, "When I was brand new to the industry and heading to a TV show audition early in my career, I was sitting in a casting director's car. When he looked at me, I smiled. At this, he told me, 'Don't smile. When you smile, you look bad.'" Neha mentioned that even though she went on to win the Miss India title after this incident, if one looks at her photos from that era, she isn't smiling anywhere. "That single comment affected me mentally for the next 8 to 10 years, and it took me a long time to get over it," she said. Neha Dhupia also revealed that losing the 'Miss Universe' pageant had deeply shaken her confidence, taking her nearly 8 to 10 months to recover from the emotional trauma. During the same show, guest actress Huma Qureshi also reopened past wounds, sharing that after the release of her second film, she became completely isolated due to severe trolling on social media. Huma revealed that those harsh and negative comments shook her to the core, after which she resorted to regular psychological therapy to heal and began writing a diary to manage her emotions.