Neelam Kothari was one of the most gorgeous divas of the 90s, who enthralled her audience with her charming personality and acting mettle. She debuted with the film, Jawani in 1984. However, it took the film, Ilzaam opposite Govinda, which gave her widespread fame. Apart from her prolific career, it has been the diva’s personal life which grabbed attention most of the time. From rumours of her dating Govinda to her relationship with Bobby Deol, the diva hit headlines frequently for the same. Fast forward to now, she is married to actor, Samir Soni. The duo is parents to their daughter, Ahana.
Bobby Deol made his debut in 1995 with the film, Barsaat. While he instantly became a sensation, especially amidst the female fanbase, it is a rather lesser-known buzz that before entering into films, Bobby was in a 5-year-long relationship with Neelam Kothari. Interestingly, much more than Bobby’s blooming career during that time, it was his relationship with Neelam which grabbed headlines. However, they called it quits soon after, and there were quite a few narratives about them. While some felt that it was Bobby’s father, Dharmendra, others pointed out that Bobby’s affair with Pooja Bhatt was the reason.
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In one of her earlier interviews with Stardust Magazine, Neelam Kothari spoke up for the first time-ever about her past relationship with Bobby Deol and spoke about the reason behind the same. Contrary to the popular narratives pointing out that Dharmendra was responsible for her breakup, Neelam had a different revelation to make. The actress mentioned how she was apprehensive about marrying someone who hadn’t even started out in his career then. In her words:
“Believe me, this decision has nothing to do with either family. I just kept thinking about ultimately ending up as a star-wife – and the thought nagged me so much that it began haunting me. You know the thought of getting involved with a guy who’s getting into films… he hasn’t even started… I just felt scared. Terribly scared. I can’t explain the fear, I thought, might as well finish it now. I couldn’t bear the thought of something going wrong later. It would have been too late. I see it happening all around me, to all the star wives. Okay, so I decided late, very late, I agree. But still, not too late.”
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Well, nearly everyone is aware of Govinda and Neelam’s affair back in the 90s, which was much talked-about. The duo did work in quite a few iconic films, and their chemistry had simply won the hearts. While they started off as friends initially, they ended up falling in love. Interestingly, on the other hand, Govinda, by this time, was already engaged to his now wife, Sunita and thus his close proximity with Neelam took a massive toll on the same. In one of his earlier interviews, Govinda had spoken about that complicated time in his personal life and revealed:
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“After I started getting busier, my relationship with Sunita went through a change. She began feeling insecure and jealous. And I was of no help. She would nag me and I would lose my temper. We had constant fights. In one of those fights, Sunita said something about Neelam, and I lost my head and called it quits. I asked Sunita to leave me. I broke off my engagement with her. And had Sunita not called me after five days and coaxed me into it again, I would probably have married Neelam."
What do you think about Neelam and Bobby’s relationship? Let us know.
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