MUMBAI : Neena Gupta returns as Manju Devi in Panchayat season 3 on Amazon Prime Video. The actress is playing the Pradhan of Phurela village once again and has won accolades for her sincere portrayal. While promoting the show, the 64-year-old disclosed that she is friends with many senior actresses in the business, but she still gets jealous when someone else gets a role for which she was approached or had an audition.

(Also read: Woah! Is Panchayat season 3 delayed? Here's why we think so

In a recent interview with the popular news portal, she recalled an incident where a young filmmaker had approached for a role. She later learnt that the same filmmaker also called actor Sunita Rajwar who happens to be Neena’s good friend.

“I kept wondering why would she reach out to both of us if she didn’t want to cast me. Sunita and I are very good friends but we look so different from each other, so how can one approach both of us for the same role? There are no similarities,” she joked.

She further added that she often gets jealous when she loses a project to a contemporary. “There is a bit of jealousy. I feel jealous when my friends or contemporaries’ bag apart and I don’t, but I also take it in a good spirit,” she added.

Fascinatingly, Sunita portrays Panchayat's Kranti Devi. In the Un Certain Regard section of the 77th Canes Film Festival, the actor recently represented her photograph, Santosh.

In her two decades in the industry, Sunita has acted in films such as Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, Kedarnath, Ek Chalis Ki Last Local, Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon, Stree, and Bala.

Jab Love Hua, Ramayan, Hitler Didi, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, and Santoshi Maa are some of her TV appearances.

Neena, in a recent interview with the popular news portal, recalled the time when she would take up roles that weren’t considered good.

“Need ke hisaab se it (the choice of script) has changed. Pehle zarurat thi paise ki zyada toh paise ke liye bahaut bure bure kaam karne padte the. Kai baar mai bhagwan se prarthna karti thi ki yeh picture release hi na ho. Ab mai na keh sakti hoon, pehle kabhi na nahi keh sakti thi. Jo script mujhe bahut achi lagti hai, role bahut acha lagta hai woh haan karti hoon aur jo nahin acha lagta woh nahin karti hoon (Earlier, there was a greater need for money, so one had to do very bad things. Many a time, I used to pray to God that this movie shouldn’t release. Now I can say no, I couldn’t say no before. I agree to the script that I like, and I don’t do what I don’t like.),” she revealed.

Jitendra Kumar, Raghubir Yadav, Neena Gupta, Sanvikaa, Chandan Roy, Faisal Malik, Durgesh Kumar, Sunita Rajwar, and Pankaj Jha are among the cast in Panchayat 3.

(Also read: Fascinating! Neena Gupta wraps up the shoot of 'Panchayat 3' leaving fans ecstatic about its release

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Credits – The Indian Express