Aastha Atray Banan (MID-DAY; December 31, 2017)

A t the end of 2016, Neha Dhupia found herself in a slump. “I saw myself sitting at home with no work, I was beating myself up for no fault of mine, and I saw it reflecting on it my mind and body. I had a flash, where I asked myself, ‘is this is the end?’ That was a very scary moment, and I knew I had to turn it around. I couldn’t let it be the end, I couldn’t go back to where I had come from,” says Dhupia, as we talk on the sets of the chat show she hosts.

Dhupia, dressed in a flowing blue dress, today looks like a woman completely in charge, of her life and career. But even though she won the Miss India title in 2002, the turnaround in career, she says came on January 1, 2017, when she was on holiday in New York with bestie Karan Johar. “Karan and I were having coffee and I said to him ‘you are serving me coffee, and you have the Midas touch. So, just imagine what a year it’s going to be. I am going to make this a tradition,” she laughs.

Since then, Dhupia has hosted a podcast, starred in movies (Tumhari Sulu, Hindi Medium, Qarib Qarib Singlle), hosted Roadies, is the new host of BFF with Vogue, and has been inducted and firmly established as a Bollywood insider, personally and professionally (she is also in Johar’s next movie). “I hate being called a Bollywood insider — I just host a show where I interview people. Karan has been a friend for a long time now — I would describe him like nobody would believe — simple, that’s what he is.”

Her down-to-earth demeanour is only accentuated by her never-say-die attitude. It’s no wonder then that the Army brat, who has starred in the controversial Julie (2004), has managed to stick around for 15 years. “I realised that if I was not satisfied by the work I am getting, I had to create my own work. I am semi famous, I have some contacts — I am going to make the most of it. You’ve got to get up and hustle every day. Some things have done well, but there are also hundred things I did that didn’t work. The beauty of failing is that you have tried.”

The year ended on a bang with her winning a film award for best supporting actress for Tumhari Sulu. “I dedicated the award to every one who was standing on the sidelines. There is no more an outsider in this industry than I am. I have no background ; at one point, my job was to change shoes of models back stage. I have so much gratitude for this — talking to you, the photographer taking my pictures, this AC trailer, I am so thankful for every single thing.”

But, Dhupia is quick to point out that it wouldn’t be possible without her discipline and Army upbringing. “The biggest question on my group chat with my team is ‘when do you sleep?’. I can’t get into bed to sleep — I only pass out when I am exhausted.”

At the end of it, she says, it’s not just about your work, but also your confidence and strength. “Whether it’s the youth who look up to me thanks to Roadies, or women who like the way I dress — You never know how you are impacting people.”