Masaba Gupta Reveals She Didn’t Have Money To Pay Cook During Covid: ‘There Is No Money Now…’

Masaba Gupta is one of the ace designers and is a well-known name. She recently opened up about her financial struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a candid conversation, the celebrated designer revealed that she reached a point where she didn’t have enough money to pay her cook.

In an interview with Faye D’Souza, Masaba said, “In 2020, when COVID hit, it was the worst time of my life. I don’t think I had even Rs 12,000 to pay to my cook. It was that bad. In March, 2020, the lockdown happened and we thought it was mostly for a day or two, and it was extended to 14 days. In those 14 days, my life completely turned around.”

Masaba Gupta recalled being stuck in Goa with her now husband Satyadeep Mishra. “I think it was end of March or the beginning of April when my business head said, ‘There is no money now. It’s done. Nobody is buying anything.’ Fashion was at the bottom of the food chain at that time.” She added how she asked her artisans, who too were stuck in the store, and living there during COVID, to start making masks with the available fabric.

She added, “I remember crying after every call. My business head was confident, he was sure something would work out. But, we shut down five stores in two months. Some were franchises. Some were company owned. I think I had some Rs 2 lakhs in the bank account. So we thought we will hold on to that Rs 2 lakhs, keep making masks and keep our focus and cut our losses.”

Masaba also opened up about her own experiences of being judged and labeled in school because of her background. Recalling the discrimination she faced, she said, “It was used against me 100 percent, it was public and it was very interesting because the kids would speak about it like adults. I could hear them repeating something they heard in their house. One kid went on to say, ‘Hey bas****, I believe you are a bastd child.’ This was when I was in the 7th grade. A lot of people also didn’t understand how I looked physically or why I looked like that.”

Masaba and her mother, Neena Gupta, gained immense popularity after starring together in the Netflix series Masaba Masaba, which has successfully run for two seasons. Last year, Masaba married her co-star Satydeep Misra, and the couple is excitedly awaiting the arrival of their first child next month.