Neelam Kothari is the most gorgeous Bollywood actress. Even after so many years, her beauty is still intact. In the '90s, she was the crush of everyone, and young girls wanted to become like her—strong, independent, and soft. However, she had an ugly first marriage to the point that she almost gave up her identity as an actress. While the marriage didn't last, the trauma stayed in the heart of Neelam as the first time she talked about it.
In the latest episode of Fabulous Lives Of Bollywood Wives, Neelam Kothari discussed the ordeals she faced in her first marriage to Rishi Sethia. The actress opened her heart while talking to filmmaker, Ekta Kapoor. She shared that she was told to wear Indian clothes and give up non-veg and alcohol, which she did happily. She even changed her name to save her marriage, but then the question came to her identity. She said:
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"I was told to wear Indian clothes, give up non-veg, and don't drink. I was fine with everything. Changing my name also, according to me, people do that, but changing my identity, that is something I was not okay with."
Neelam also recalled when she would visit a supermarket or go out for lunch, people would come to her and ask if she was the actress, and she would deny it. Neelam shared that it made her question why she was allowing herself to change so much. This incident made her decide she didn't wanted to stay in the marriage. She said:
"I reached a point where I questioned myself, 'How am I allowing this?' I used to be in a supermarket or going out for lunch, and someone would come up to me and ask, 'Are you Neelam the actress?' I had to say no."
Neelam also revealed that she was out of the blue questioned about her divorce by her daughter, Ahana. She wasn't ready, as this wasn't the way Neelam wanted to tell her daughter about her first marriage. Neelam revealed her emotions and shared that she almost died and had no words to explain to her daughter. She said:
"I came home from work, and Ahana was with her friends. Normally, they’re jumping around, screaming and shouting. But this time, there was pin-drop silence. Ahana came to me and asked, 'Mama, you never told me you were divorced. I just died. I was stumped; I had no words. I asked Ahana, 'First of all, how do you know?' She said, 'You're a celebrity, and my friends and I were sort of googling you. The first thing that came up was that you were divorced. You were married.' The first thing that came to my mind was that this was not how I wanted my daughter to find out."
Neelam has appeared in more than forty movies and has been hailed as one of the most successful Bollywood actresses of the '90s.
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