fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Neelam Kothari Soni is an Indian actress and jewellery designer from Mumbai, known mononymously as Neelam. She made her acting debut with Jawaani (1984) opposite debutant Karan Shah. Neelam has thereafter starred opposite Govinda in Love 86 (1986), Ilzaam (1986), Sindoor (1986), Khudgarz (1987), Hatya (1988), Farz Ki Jung (1989), Taaqatwar (1989) and Do Qaidi (1989). She starred opposite Chunkey Pandey in films Aag Hi Aag (1987), Paap Ki Duniya (1988), Khatron Ke Khiladi (1988), Billoo Badshah (1989), Ghar Ka Chiraag (1989), and Mitti Aur Sona (1989).

Neelam Kothari Soni
Kothari in 2012
Born	Neelam Kothari British Hong Kong
Nationality	India
Occupation	Actress Jewelry designer
Years active	1984–2001 2020–present
Spouse(s)	Rishi Sethia ​ ​ (m. 2000, divorced)​ Samir Soni ​ (m. 2011)​

Early life

Neelam Kothari Soni was born in Hong Kong to a Gujarati Indian father Shishir Kothari and Iranian mother Parveen Kothari.[1][2][3] [4] As a child, she learnt to play the keyboard and danced Jazz Ballet. Her family has a traditional jewellery making business, making high-class pieces. She was educated at Island School, where she was a member of Rutherford house. After her childhood in Hong Kong, her family moved to Bangkok. Neelam was holidaying in Mumbai when she was approached by director Ramesh Behl.[5] She decided to give acting a shot and signed for the film Jawaani (1984) alongside Karan Shah, Tina Munim's nephew.[6] But the film was unsuccessful commercially.[6]

Career

Acting

Kothari's performance in her debut film was noticed in film circles and she received offers. She later became famous in 1986 for her role in the film Ilzaam opposite another debutant, Govinda. She made a very popular pairing with Govinda and starred with him in 14 movies and some of their films include Love 86 (1986), Khudgarz (1987), Hatya (1988) and Taaqatwar (1989). She had 5 hits opposite Chunkey Pandey, such as Aag Hi Aag (1987), Paap Ki Duniya (1988), Khatron Ke Khiladi (1988), Mitti Aur Sona (1989) and Ghar Ka Chiraag (1989), out of 8 films with him, the other 3 being Zakham (1989 film), Khule-Aam and a Bengali film, Mandira (film). She also worked in another Bengali film Badnam (1990) with Prosenjit Chatterjee.

She was also noticed for her appearance in the 1998 film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, where she played herself as a VJ and in the 1999 ensemble family drama Hum Saath Saath Hain in which she played a supporting role. Her last film was the delayed release Kasam in 2001, opposite Chunky Pandey.[7]

In 2020, she starred alongside Maheep Kapoor, Bhavna Pandey and Seema Sajdeh in a reality television series Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives as well as Season 2 (2022), both of which was streamed on Netflix.[8][9]

Jewellery designing

Even while pursuing her career in acting, she was interested in jewellery designing and was involved in her family business. She pursued a formal course in jewellery-designing[10] in Mumbai and, after quitting films temporarily in 2001, started out commercially on her own under the name Neelam Jewels. She opened a showroom in Mumbai in 2004.[11] She then launched her jewellery store in Mumbai on 25 August 2011 under the name Neelam Kothari Fine Jewels.

Other works

Neelam featured in Bina Mistry's Hot Hot Hot music video,[12] a song that is part of a compilation of dance hits in the 1995 BMG release, titled Channel [V] Hits: The Ultimate Dance Collection. The song became a hit when it was featured as part of the soundtrack of Bend It Like Beckham (2002).

Personal life

In October 2000, Neelam married Rishi Sethia, the son of a businessman from the UK.[13] They got divorced soon after.[14] After a brief relationship with actor Samir Soni,[15] she married him in 2011.[16] After 2 years of marriage, in 2013, they adopted a daughter and named her Ahana.[17]

In 1998, Neelam was charged with the Wildlife Act and the IPC for the poaching of two blackbucks in Kankani during the filming of Hum Saath Saath Hain, along with co-stars Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre and Tabu. She was acquitted by the CJM court at Jodhpur on 5 April 2018.[18]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	Jawaani	Sanam
1986	Ilzaam	Aarti
	Andaz Pyar Ka
	Love 86	Esha
1987	Aag Hi Aag	Aarti
	Khudgarz	Jyoti
	Sindoor	Lalita Kapoor
1988	Taaqatwar	Bijli
	Hatya	Sapna
	Waqt Ki Awaz	Dancer, Singer
	Ghar Mein Ram Gali Mein Shyam	Jaya
	Khatron Ke Khiladi	Sunita
	Paap Ki Duniya	Aarti
1989	Gharana	Lalita
	Do Qaidi	Neelu
	Ghar Ka Chiraag	Kiran
	Hum Bhi Insaan Hain	Rekha
	Mitti Aur Sona	Anupama
1990	Vishnu Devaa
	Mandira		Bengali film
	Badnam	Kajol	Bengali film
	Shankara	Seema
	Doodh Ka Karz	Reshma
	Upkar Dhoodhache	Reshma	Marathi film
	Chor Pe Mor	Ritu
	Amiri Garibi	Jyoti
	Agneepath	Siksha Chavan
	Zakham	Aarti
	Billoo Badshah	Jyoti
	Farz Ki Jung	Kavita
	Dost Garibon Ka	Rekha
1991	Kasak	Divya
	Meet Mere Man Ke
	Ranbhoomi	Neelam
	Indrajeet	Neelam
	Afsana Pyaar Ka	Nikita
1992	Ek Ladka Ek Ladki	Renu / Rani
	Khule-Aam	Priya
	Sahebzaade	Chinar
	Laat Saab	Anju / Mona
1993	Parampara	Sapna
1995	Santaan	Asha
	Antim Nyay	Rekha
1996	Ek Tha Raja	Shilpa
	Sauda	Jyoti
	Aadithya		Kannada film
1997	Mohabbat Aur Jung	Priya
1998	Kuch Kuch Hota Hai	VJ Neelam	Special appearance
1999	Hum Saath-Saath Hain: We Stand United	Sangeeta
2000	Pattar Aur Payal
2001	Kasam	Bindiya
2020–present	Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives	Herself	Reality series

References

External links

• Neelam Kothari at IMDb 
• Neelam Kothari at Bollywood Hungama

---