Shahid Kapoor’s Mom Neelima Azeem On Her Failed Marriage With Pankaj Kapur: “It Was The First Time When I Actually Experienced Grief, Sorrow & Rejection Of The Unknown”
Neelima Azeem and Pankaj Kapur tied the knot in 1979 and welcomed Shahid Kapoor in 1981.
Neelima Azeem Gets Candid About How Failed Marriage With Pankaj Kapur Affected Her(Photo Credit – Neelima Azeem/Instagram)
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Neelima Azeem, Shahid Kapoor and Ishaan Khatter’s mother, is a legend in the world of Indian kathak. The actress, who got her taste at fame at the age of 15, tied the knot to actor Pankaj Kapur at a pretty young age of 20. A couple of years later, she welcomed her son Shahid, but unfortunately, her marriage with Kapur went kaput.
In a recent interview, Neelima opened up her hasty decision, the divorce and how it affected her. Read all she had to say below.
In a conversation with Bollywood Bubble, Neelima Azeem opened up about her marriage to actor Pankaj Kapur and how she felt when it failed. She said, “Of course it did hit me. Because you know I was in my own opinion God’s favourite child.” Adding that she got everything she wanted, she continued, “Then I had this wonderful friend who I got married to. Everything was just beautiful. My parents were wonderful. I had a great crowd around me. Toh mujhe yeh pata hi nahi tha ki zindagi mein aisa bhi hota hai jismein paun fisal jaye aur aap gir jaayein.”
Talking about the effect the failed marriage had on her, Neelima Azeem said, “Aur rejection ka toh koi sawaal hi nahi hai because everybody used to love me and follow me around. 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. And also a sense of feeling claustrophobic that I have to stay with my parents now and raise the child on my own.” She added, “Everything was hunky-dory before the divorce happened. So this was the first time when I actually slipped and fell on my face so to say.”
But she doesn’t believe the divorce was a terrible thing that happened to her. Stating that it helped her bounce back, Azeem said, “But I don’t see it as the terrible thing that happened to me in life. I just simply think that I needed that bump.” She continued, “We all must understand that we are not extraordinary or entitled. We are simply human beings who can be rejected. And it took me about a year and a half to put myself together and there Phir Wahi Talash did a lot for me.”
Neelima Azeem and Pankaj Kapur tied the knot in 1979 and welcomed Shahid Kapoor in 1981. But in 1984, the couple parted ways. After Pankaj, Neelima married actor Rajesh Khattar in 1990 but divorced in 2001. Azeem married Indian classical vocalist Raza Ali Khan in 2004, but they moved their separate ways in 2009.
