‘I played dirty with Neelam, should have told her I was married’, says Govinda

Govinda tied the knot with Sunita Ahuja in 1987, but the couple kept their marriage a secret for an year as the actor had just made his Bollywood debut in 1986. In his first film Love 86, Govinda was paired with Neelam and their romantic relationship began. The Haseena Maan Jaayegi actor has also stated that he wanted to end his relationship with Sunita and marry Neelam.

In an interview with the Stardust magazine, Govinda shared, “After I started getting busier, my relationship with Sunita went through a change. She began feeling insecure and jealous. And I was of no help. She would nag me and I would lose my temper. We had constant fights. In one of those fights, Sunita said something about Neelam, and I lost my head and called it quits. 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.”

The actor added that he played dirty with Neelam as he kept his marriage with Sunita a secret from her as he continued, “Neither did Neelam know about it. She got to know only after a year. I probably did not tell her because I did not want to break this successful screen pair. And to be honest, to a certain extent, I did exploit my personal relationship with Neelam for professional ends. I played dirty with her. I should have told her that I was married.”

In another interview, the Dulhe Raja actor even stated that he wanted to marry Neelam, but he he couldn’t let go off his commitment towards Sunita as he said, “Yes, I wanted to marry her. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. Neelam was the ideal girl, the kind every man visualises for a life-partner. The kind of girl I wanted. But that was getting emotional. There was another practical side. Just because I had fallen in love elsewhere, I couldn’t overlook my commitment towards Sunita. If there was no sense of duty in a man, this would go on. Leave one for another and another for another.”

Govinda and Sunita are parents to two children, Tina Ahuja and Yashvardhan Ahuja. Tina was born in 1989 and Yashvardhan was born in 1997. Tina’s only Bollywood film was the 2015 romantic comedy Second Hand Husband, which bombed at the box office. Yashvardhan will soon make his acting debut.