Actor and Kathak dancing legend Neelima Azeem earned many laurels as a teenager in the 70s. Now a mother to Gen-Y stars Shahid Kapoor and Ishaan Khatter, she recently opened up about her divorce and failed marriages to Pankaj Kapur and Rajesh Khatter.
She explained how the failure of her early marriage to Pankaj Kapur in 1979 hit her hard as she battled her first-ever rejection, HT reports. She said, “I had this wonderful friend who I got married to, everything was just la-la-la-da-di-da, my parents were wonderful, I had a great crowd around me, toh mujhe ye pata hi nahi tha ke kuch zindagi mein aisa bhi ho sakta hai jisme pav phisal jaye aur hum dup kar ke ghir jaaye (I wasn’t aware that one could slip in life and fall flat). Aur rejection ka koi sawaal hi nahi hai (there was no question of rejection) because everybody used to love me and adore me and follow me around. So it was, in that way, when you’re young and full of beans, it was the first time when I actually experienced grief, sorrow, rejection, anxiety, pain, and fear of the unknown and a whole lot of insecurity.”
She felt claustrophobic at the idea of raising a child by herself and living at her parents’ home. Neelima continued, “This was the first time when I slipped and fell on my face so to say. But I don’t see it as a terrible thing that happened to me in life. I just simply think that I needed that bump. We all must understand that we are not extraordinary or entitled, we are simply human beings that can be rejected. It took me a year-and-a-half after that to put myself together.”
As for her 2nd marriage with Rajesh Khatter, she revealed, that it could’ve worked if there had been more control. She said, “The second marriage would have lasted if certain things didn’t happen which were difficult to encounter… It was difficult, it was an impossible feat. I think it would have worked out if there was more control and more logic and sense it in. But it went, it flew out. And it happens in Bombay with all the struggle and with all the pressures, sometimes people succumb to it. But I have the ability to get up and start walking again, and I have these lovely boys in my life, my sons (Shahid and Ishaan), they were a great inspiration for me and a source of so much happiness and encouragement.”
Today, she shares a cordial bond with Rajesh and credits his wife Vandana Sajnani for this friendly bond. She concluded, “I’d like to give Vandana the credit here because Vandana is somebody who has always seeked me and I would say she has taken the initiative to be a friend of mine. And she respects me like as I am an elder in a family. She’s just always respected me and admired me and encouraged me to be there for her. I feel comfortable with Rajesh because of that.”
What do you think of her revelations? Tell us.
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