Neelam Kothari recalls facing celebrity baggage while transitioning from Bollywood to jewelry business: 'People said she had nothing better to do'

Neelam Kothari, who acted in many movies from the '80s and '90s, shared her experiences of working in male-dominated film industry. She also shared about her challenging transition as an actress into entrepreneurship and how the celebrity baggage often worked against her.

Reflecting on her early career, Neelam recalled how the Bollywood landscape was largely male-dominated, with very few women in key behind-the-scenes roles. "Those times, if we are talking about women in the industry, it was mainly only me and maybe my hairstylist," she said in an interview with Business Today, reflecting on the lack of representation among them.

But Neelam is proud of how much women have progressed in the industry, saying, "Today, the industry is full of talented women: writers, directors, artists. Truly inspiring to see how far we've come."

She also narrated the challenges in shifting gears in Neelam Jewels. With a family jewelry background, Kothari revealed that celebrity baggage often worked against her, and she had to fight many skeptical minds who felt that she was doing it as she "had nothing better to do."

"It was very difficult, but step by step, I built my brand," she said when Neelam reminisced about early days when she could not even attract a single customer. She says she did not have even a single client for the first one to two years but grew the brand step by step.

On the work front, Neelam was seen on Fabulous Lives Vs Bollywood Wives season 3 alongside Bhavana Pandey, Seema Sajdeh, Shalini Passi, Riddhima Kapoor Sahni and Maheep Kapoor.