Neelima Azeem Opens Up On Her Failed Marriages With Pankaj Kapur And Rajesh Khattar, Says Her Children Were Her Inspiration

Neelima Azeem has been one of those actresses who have lived her life on her own terms and has also been open about it. She has been appearing in films again after a short hiatus and was recently seen in movies like Dolly, Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare and The Illegal. Now, in a recent interview, she has opened up about her failed marriages with actors Pankaj Kapur and with Rajesh Khattar and what she feels had happened.

Talking to Bollywood Bubble, she revealed that the first marriage was like a bump in life that she needed but she never thought something like that could happen. She revealed, "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."

Opening up about what went wrong in her second marriage, Neelima 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."

She also added that she is on cordial terms with Rajesh Khattar and credited his current wife Vandana Sajnani for that! She added, "I'd like to give Vandana the credit here because Vandana is somebody who has always sought 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."

Neelima Azeem was married to Pankaj Kapur from 1979 to 1984 and has Shahid Kapoor from the marriage. She then married Rajesh Khatter in 1990 and the dup parted ways in 2001. She then married Ustad Raza Ali Khan in 2004 before seeking a divorce in 2009.