When Govinda Broke Off Engagement With Sunita To Marry Neelam: ‘If She Hadn’t Called Me...'

Govinda rose to stardom in the Hindi film industry after his debut in Love 86, quickly becoming a major force. During this time, he was in a secret relationship with his now-wife, Sunita, but he also developed feelings for his frequent co-star, Neelam. Though he and Sunita later married, they kept it a secret for a year, while Govinda’s affection for Neelam grew.

In a 1990 interview with Stardust, Govinda revealed that he even broke off his engagement with Sunita because he wanted to marry Neelam. He explained, “I was very conscious of Neelam,” acknowledging their different backgrounds. Despite these differences, he said they grew closer through their frequent work together. “We became friends. And we had so many films together. We met so often, and the more I got to know her, the more I liked her,” he recalled, adding, “She was the kind of woman any man would have lost his heart to. I lost mine.”

During this period, Govinda admitted that a fight with Sunita led him to call off their engagement. “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,” he said, adding, “I wanted to marry her. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”

However, Govinda soon realized that Neelam was not interested in marriage, as she was focused on her career. He reflected, “She wanted an intelligent, well-to-do, good-looking man as a husband. And I was anything but that. She belonged to the upper strata and I was a dehati, coming from a lower-middle-class family. We were poles apart in every way. We probably would never have been successful as a married couple. And maybe, Neelam realised that.”

Govinda also admitted that after marrying Sunita, he didn’t inform Neelam, even though they continued working together. He acknowledged his mistakes, saying, “I tried to exploit my personal relationship with Neelam for professional ends. I played dirty with her. I should have told her that I was married.”

Today, Govinda and Sunita have been married for over 35 years, with two children, while Neelam has been married to actor Samir Soni for over 13 years, and they have a daughter.