Neha Dhupia on coming to Mumbai: Dad gave a return ticket, asked not to use it 

Neha Dhupia is a familiar face in Indian cinema and popular culture. If not for the movies, Neha would have had a very different name and perhaps, a very different destiny. In a recent conversation on mid-day`s The Bombay Film Story, the actress fondly recalled how her parents had originally planned to name her Nirvana, a choice rooted in meaning and intent, before fate- and a movie- intervened.

Neha Dhupia on story behind her name 

“My name that my parents had decided for me was Nirvana,” Neha shared, recounting a story she has heard many times growing up. As the tale goes, when her parents reached the registration office, it was lunchtime. Instead of waiting, they stepped out to watch a film. One of the characters in the movie was named Neha and that was that. “They were just like, Nirvana, Neha. But it would have worked,” she said with a smile, acknowledging how effortlessly the switch happened.

That small, almost incidental decision set the stage for a life defined by unexpected turns- something Neha would experience firsthand years later when she embarked on her journey from Delhi to Mumbai.

Neha on her journey to Mumbai

Recalling her early days as a Miss India finalist, Neha spoke about the moment her father handed her a symbolic ticket, quite literally. Having qualified from Delhi, one of the toughest circuits of the pageant, she received an Air India ticket to Mumbai. It wasn’t just any ticket; it came with a return option, one you could fill in later. “He gave me that ticket and said, ‘Try not to use the return ticket,’” she remembered. 

Neha never did use that return ticket. She still has it, carefully preserved in a shoebox,  a keepsake from a time when dreams were fragile and hope had to be held onto tightly. “I’m that old-school girl,” she said, describing how she stores memories the same way she approaches life, with intention and sentiment.

Her first journey to Mumbai was equally vivid. Accompanied by her father, Neha travelled by train, wide-eyed and curious. “I said, ‘Papa, I want to see Bombay,’” she recalled. Barely in her twenties, she explored the city, stayed in Navinagar, met friends, and even visited editing studios. Watching film promos being cut,  possibly for a Salman Khan film,  left a lasting impression. “I was like, wow, this is how it’s done. This is how it’s made.”