Mumbai: Actress Neelam Kothari Soni emerged as a big name in the Hindi film industry in the 90s. Audience might be remembering her in many films opposite Govinda.
Neelam celebrates her birthday 9 November. She has now opted out of films but is frequently spotted at events.
Neelam was born in Hong Kong but was raised in Bangkok. The story of Neelam’s arrival in Hindi film industry is also very interesting. She was holidaying in Mumbai when she was approached by director Ramesh Behl.
Neelam made her debut with the film Jawaani (1984) opposite Karan Shah. The film flopped but Neelam’s performance was praised. After this she received some good offers. Neelam also worked with Aamir Khan and Salman Khan.
She did 14 films with Govinda. Her last film was the delayed release Kasam in 2001, opposite Chunky Pandey.
On the personal front, she had a long affair with Govinda. Govinda was also new at that time. When he met Neelam, he fell in love with her.
During that time, Govinda was also dating Sunita. Sunita and Govinda used to fight a lot because of Neelam. Govinda even reportedly broke his engagement with Sunita to be with Neelam. He wanted to marry Neelam but his mother wanted Sunita as her daughter-in-law so he married her instead.
Govinda left Neelam for his mother’s sake.
In October 2000, Neelam married Rishi Sethi, son of a businessman from the U.K., in Bangkok. Their marriage was short-lived and she married actor Sameer Soni 24 January, 2011. Two years into their marriage, the couple adopted a daughter. Neelam played the role of Salman Khan’s sister in the film Hum Saath Saath Hain. Apart from this, she has appeared in films like Ek Tha Raja, Ek Ladka Ek Ladki, Ilzaam and Sindoor.
