When Shabana Raza said she was ‘forced’ to change her name to Neha for Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Kareeb: ‘I wasn’t okay with it’

During an interview in 2008, she had discussed why she kept switching back and forth between her names. “I was never Neha. I was always Shabana. I was forced to change my name too. I was not okay with it at all. My parents proudly named me Shabana. There was no need to change it, but nobody listened to me,” she told Rediff.com. “I have matured a lot since I entered the industry. I was very apprehensive about everything before, but I understand better now,” she added.

When asked why she didn’t revert to her original name sooner after Kareeb, Shabana replied, “That is the sad part. Nobody would listen to me when I wanted to go back to my first name.”

Shabana said that she never wanted to act in films and even refused when she got an offer for her debut film. “I did not want to act in films. I was studying in Delhi and was happy there. But they saw me on television and coaxed me to do the film. They chased me. I was not interested and refused. They spoke to my parents and got their approval. I worked for a few days and loved being in front of the camera. I felt as though acting was my dream,” the actor shared.

Shabana has not appeared in the movies since 2009.

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