I had no intentions of making a silver screen comeback: Neelam Kothari Soni

Neelam Kothari Soni, who was last seen in the 2001 release Kasam before making a comeback with the reality TV show The Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives in 2020, was recently in the city for an event. The actress-turned-jewellery designer, who was accompanied by her friends and fellow stars Maheep Kapoor, Bhavana Pandey and Seema Sajdeh, sat down for a quick chat with us, where she spoke about returning to acting, stepping into OTT and her love for Ahmedabad. Excerpts:



‘Had no intentions to return to acting’

Neelam, who started working in films at an early age and gave hits like Jawaani, Love 86, Ilzaam, and Khudgarz, went on a sabbatical in 2001. Ask her about her return to the screen two decades on, and the actress says, “Honestly, I had no plans or intentions to get back to acting. In fact, I didn’t want to, consciously. But somehow the show (The Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives), just landed in my lap. A lot of credit goes to Karan (Johar), for offering me this, as it has provided so many surprising avenues and opportunities for me.”


Neelam has been friends with Bhavana and Maheep for several decades now. On asking if she shared some advice from her experience in the industry to their daughters (actresses Ananya Panday and Shanaya Kapoor), Neelam laughs, “No, I didn’t have to give any advice to them at all. Actually, they don’t need it either. They are already very smart and sharp for the industry today. In fact, I believe I will need some tips from them if I do a project now (smiles).”



‘OTT’s reach is simply amazing'

A lot of Neelam’s contemporaries like Madhuri Dixit have tried their hand at playing varied roles in different genres on OTT today. Does she intend on exploring it as well? Neelam smiles, “I believe in ‘never say never.’ I will take up a project if I like the concept and script, but I haven’t received anything like that yet. But I am so happy to see the opportunities, roles and genres OTT is offering today. And the power it has, to give us a massive reach, is simply amazing.”


‘Ahmedabad is warm and welcoming’

Neelam, who has been to the city several times, has her roots in Gujarat (as her father is a Gujarati). She says, “I am a half-Gujarati indeed, and I understand the language as well, but I can’t talk in Gujarati a lot (laughs).” Talking about the city, she says, “I have visited Ahmedabad many times for my jewellery exhibitions. The city and the people here have always been warm and welcoming.”