Actor Neelam Kothari recently bared her heart on the reality show Fabulous Lives vs Bollywood Wives, recounting the emotional rollercoaster of her first marriage to Rishi Sethia. In a candid conversation with Ekta Kapoor, Neelam revealed the immense personal struggles she faced after moving to a different country post-marriage, and how it led her to question her own identity.
“I was told to wear Indian clothes, give up non-veg and alcohol, and even change my name,” she said, reflecting on the expectations placed on her during the marriage. “I reached a point where I questioned myself, ‘How am I allowing this?’”
The revelation doesn’t stop there. Neelam shared a particularly heart-wrenching moment when she had to deny her identity in public. “People would come up to me and ask, ‘Are you Neelam the actress?’ and I would have to say, ‘No, I’m not Neelam.’ That’s when I truly felt like I had lost myself.”
But the real bombshell came when Neelam’s daughter, Ahana, learned about her mother’s past in the most unexpected way—through Google. “Ahana confronted me, asking, ‘Mumma, you never told me you were divorced.’ I was speechless,” Neelam recounted emotionally, admitting it was far from how she wanted her daughter to find out.
Despite the painful memories, Neelam has since moved on. After her divorce from Sethia, she found love again with actor Sameer Soni, marrying him in 2011. The couple adopted Ahana in 2013, and Neelam now seems to have reclaimed her sense of self, both personally and professionally.
As always, Neelam’s revelations stirred plenty of conversation, leaving fans intrigued about the actress’s journey from heartbreak to healing. It seems that even Bollywood royalty isn’t immune to life’s unexpected twists!