Neelam Kothari

Eminent filmmaker Ramesh Behl discovered Neelam Eminent filmmaker Ramesh Behl who gave super hit films like Jawaani Diwani, Kasme Vaade, Baseraa , Yeh Vaada Raha etc was planning a love story and looking for a teenage actress. When he saw the charming Neelam in Mumbai he was bowled over by her bewitching beauty and immediately approached her to do a film. Initially Neelam declined but when he informed her that the film has lot of music, she was excited as she loved music. She decided to do the film for fun. The film was Jawaani (1984) opposite a new actor Karan Shah. While she had just signed Jawaani, another top filmmaker Pahlaj Nihalani signed her for his multi-star film Ilzaam (1984). The film had top stars like Shashi Kapoor and Shatrughan Sinha. Neelam was paired with Govinda, who was making his debut. Though both Jawaani and Ilzaam started shooting in 1984 but Ilzaam got delayed and Jawaani was released first. Unfortunately Jawaani was a major debacle and Neelam was labeled a flop actress. She had no work for two years! But when Ilzaam released in 1986 and was declared a hit, she was flooded with offers. The Neelam and Govinda jodi became popular in 80’s After the huge success of Ilzaam the Jodi of Neelam and Govinda became hot favorite among filmmakers and the two did almost 12 films together. The highlight of their film was its brilliant dance and music. Neelam was a good dancer and had great understanding of music hence her songs were hit. In addition Govinda too was a trained dancer hence Neelam and Govinda made a great combination. People even today remember their hit films song like Pehle Pehle Pyar Ki….(Ilzaam), May Se Minaa Se Dil Bhelta hai mera aap ke aajanae se …(Khudgarz), Patjhad Saawan Basat Bahaar…. (Sindoor), Aap Ko Agar Zaroorat Hai (Hatya), O Miss De De Kiss…(Love 86 ), Tere Daddy Ne Diya Mujhe Parmit Tujhe Patane Ka…(Gharana). Neelam worked with Salman and Aamir Khan too Besides Govinda, Neelam shared a great chemistry with Chunky Pandey. The two did many films together and few memorable films are Aag Hi Aag, Paap Ki Duniya, Ghar Ka Chiraag, Mitti Aur Sona etc. Even today the popular song Mein Tera Tota Tu Meri Maina…from Paap Ki Duniya is a huge hit. In the 90’s she was paired with Salman Khan (Ek Ladka Ek Ladki), Aamir Khan (Afsana Pyar Ka), Sanjay Dutt (Sahebzaade), Ranbhoomi (Rishi Kapoor), Saif Ali Khan (Ek Tha Raja) etc Karan Johar brought Neelam back in films Neelam had quit films after marriage but on the insistence of Karan Johar she agreed to a friendly appearance in his film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai as VJ Neelam. After this she did another good film on the request of Sooraj R. Barjatya and became part of his hit film Hum Saath-Saath Hain. Her last film was Kasam in which she got the privilege to work with versatile actor Naseeruddin Shah.