Neelam Kothari is basking in the success of her Netflix show Fabulous Lives Vs Bollywood Wives. Now, the actress has addressed the rumours related to her alleged relationship with Govinda. Neelam and Govinda have worked in films including Love 86, Ilzaam, and Gharana. In a recent interview, Neelam clarified that she was never in a romantic relationship with her frequent collaborator, attributing the rumours to be part of the sensationalised media coverage of the time. She highlighted how the absence of social media made it quite difficult for the stars to interact with their fans, and thus, they couldn’t issue any clarifications then. 

“I think link-ups were part of the whole game. There were more link-up stories back then because no one could clarify. They just printed whatever they wanted to,” Neelam told Hauterrfly.

She continued, “And to be honest, in those days we were scared of the press because it was the power of the pen. It was like if you did more than two or three films together, people would think that you were dating.” 

Meanwhile, Govinda, in a 1990 interview with Stardust, claimed that he even broke off his engagement with his now-wife, Sunita, for Neelam. “I couldn’t stop praising her. To my friends, to my family. Even to Sunita, to whom I was committed. I would tell Sunita to change herself and become like Neelam. I would tell her to learn from her. I was merciless.” He added, “I asked Sunita to leave me. I broke off my engagement with her. And had Sunita not called me after five days and coaxed me into it again, I would probably have married Neelam. I wanted to marry her. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”