'I was young and did not know he was married': Actress Neelam Kothari opens up about rumours around Govinda's old feelings for her

Neelam Kothari has recently opened up about the long-standing rumours surrounding Govinda’s feelings for her during the early years of their careers. The actress recalled that she was very young when they worked together and did not even know that the actor was married at the time. Their frequent collaborations in the 1980s and early 1990s had often led to speculation about their equation off screen.

Neelam Kothari on Govinda's old love confession

During a recent interview with Times Now, Neelam was asked about reports that Govinda had fallen in love with her. She said she was too young to understand the situation and only learned about his marriage later. Neelam was speaking alongside her husband, actor Samir Soni, who said he had never spent time thinking about something that may have happened decades ago.

Speaking about that period of her life, Neelam, "I was too young. I didn't know that he was married. I learnt about it later. And I had very strict parents. So a relationship was never an option."




Neelam also clarified that a family member would accompany her to film sets because she was young. She stressed that it was not because her family considered the film industry an unsafe place.

The actress recalled that she was treated differently on sets because of her age. According to her, people around her pampered her and her co-stars treated her like a child. Samir added that actors Jackie Shroff and Sanjay Dutt were particularly protective of Neelam during those years.

Samir also addressed the old rumours during the interview. He said he had no reason to hold on to something that happened, or may have happened, around two decades earlier, especially since he was not aware of it at the time.

What did Govinda say about Neelam?

Govinda had spoken about his feelings for Neelam years before her recent comments. In a 1990 interview with Stardust, the actor admitted that working with Neelam repeatedly had made him increasingly fond of her.


The actor also revealed that he would frequently praise Neelam in front of his friends and family. This included Sunita Ahuja, to whom he was committed at the time. According to Govinda, he would even tell Sunita to change certain things about herself and become more like Neelam.

Govinda admitted that his comments upset Sunita. He recalled her telling him that he had fallen in love with her for who she was and that he should not try to change her.

Govinda once considered marrying Neelam

Govinda also spoke about how complicated the situation became for him. He said his relationship with Sunita had started before his acting career took off, but his growing feelings for Neelam left him confused.

The actor admitted that, "I asked Ssunita to leave me. I broke off my engagement with her. And, had Ssunita not called me after five days and coaxed me into it again, I would probably have married Neelam." However, the two eventually reconciled.

Govinda said that if Sunita had not contacted him again after their brief separation and persuaded him to reconsider, he might have ended up marrying Neelam.

Neelam eventually moved away from acting and built a career in jewellery designing. She later returned to the spotlight with Netflix's reality series Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives, alongside Maheep Kapoor, Bhavana Pandey and Seema Sajdeh. She was also part of Fabulous Lives vs Bollywood Wives, which brought together the Mumbai and Delhi cast members.

Meanwhile, Govinda and Sunita have continued to remain in the public eye amid discussions about their marriage.