Neelam Kothari breaks silence on Govinda’s off-screen love: ‘I was too young’ - The Indian Express

Neelam Kothari has addressed speculation about her equation with Govinda, recalling that she was young and had strict parents at a time when the actor had feelings for her. Her husband, actor Samir Soni, also joined the conversation, saying he never dwelled on something that may or may not have happened decades ago.

Neelam Kothari and Govinda worked together in several films during the 1980s and early 1990s, and rumours about their relationship have continued over the years. During the Times Now interview, the host told Neelam that Govinda was in love with her off screen. To this, Neelam recalled that she was very young at the time and did not know that Govinda was married.

“I was too young. I didn’t know that he was married. I learnt about it later,” she said.

Samir Soni, who was sitting beside Neelam, said he never felt the need to hold on to something that happened, or may have happened, 20 years ago. “Something that may or may not have happened 20 years ago, I didn’t know about it. So how can I hold on to it? He still claims he was madly in love with you,” said Samir.

Neelam Kothari explained that a relationship was never really an option for her at that stage of her life. She said her focus was on learning Hindi and working in films. “I was too young and I had very strict parents. So a relationship was never an option.”

Neelam also clarified that either of her family members would accompany her to shoots because of her young age, and not because her family believed the film industry was unsafe. “I was always accompanied by a family member because I was very young. It wasn’t because the industry was a bad place,” the actress said.

According to her, everyone on the sets pampered her, and her co-stars treated her like a child. Samir Soni added that actors Jackie Shroff and Sanjay Dutt were particularly “protective” of her.

Neelam Kothar, who stepped away from acting after working in several popular films, later ventured into jewellery designing. She returned to the spotlight with Netflix’s reality series Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives, which also featured her friends, Maheep Kapoor, Bhavana Pandey and Seema Sajdeh.

She was also seen in the spin-off Fabulous Lives vs Bollywood Wives, which brought the Mumbai and Delhi cast members together.