Troll us all you want, the stars of 'The Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives' tell haters

Dubai - The glam squad is on a mission to have fun and nothing and nobody is allowed to come in their way

by

Ambica Sachin

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Published: Sun 6 Dec 2020, 8:04 AM

Last updated: Tue 22 Dec 2020, 2:44 PM

There is never a dull moment with the fabulous Bollywood wives, Bhavana Pandey, Seema Khan, Maheep Kapoor and Neelam Kothari, the lead stars of Netflix’s current top trending reality series as we find out during a recent conversation. The dynamics between the utterly gorgeous foursome — did your jaws drop like ours when Neelam said she was 50 during the show? — who have known each other for over 25 years is so easy, it’s like being a fly on the wall during a candid chat between friends. The Karan Johar produced reality series that dropped on Netflix recently may have come in for a whole lot of criticism including accusations of being superficial, vacuous and a typical cringe-binge watch, but admittedly one gets a real feel of the women behind the makeup and the designer clothes, during the conversation. Which doesn’t say much about the series perhaps — but like Maheep keeps reminding us; ‘Love us or hate us but you can’t ignore us!’

All of them are unanimous that The Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives has surpassed all their expectations, and seem to be basking in the attention, never mind the trolls. Maheep came through as the no-nonsense type, with no time for frivolty, preferring to look through the haters rather than acknowledge them, while Bhavana is the more-at-peace-with-the-self one, perfectly poised and equanimous. Neelam stays true to her sweet-natured, 80s heroine demeanor with just one outburst over the criticism of her accent in the show that she explains away as something she was bound to have since she was born and brought up outside India. While Bhavana says she, Seema and Maheep bonded as young wives with small kids in Bollywood, she is all praise for her husband, Chunky Pandey’s costar as well. “Neelam was already a part of the industry, she was a huge superstar and she was one of the kindest, warmest, nicest people,” she says. Seema Khan, seems to be the sorted one, or at least the one trying to keep things together for the family. Together they are all things fun and fabulous as we found out during a recent Zoom chat.


SEEMA KHAN

CLAIM TO FAME: Fashion designer. In an ‘unconventional’ marriage with Sohail Khan, superstar Salman Khan’s younger brother; mother to Nirvaan and Yohan Khan.


MOOD: The Diplomat

WHY SHE DID THE SERIES: “Honestly I did it because the producer (Karan Johar) is a dear friend and I’ve done it with these three women who I have known practically half my life. They are my best friends. And I did it for the joy ride, I did it for the adventure. I did it because if nothing at the end of it, I have a story to tell. I’m grateful and overwhelmed with what we are getting today.”

DOES SHE REGRET THE ‘UNCONVENTIONAL MARRIAGE’ COMMENT: “You’ve watched the series, so you know I have no filter. There’s nothing that I prepared for. What I said is the honest truth. But at the end of the day we are a family. We are a unit and if we are happy that’s all that matter to me. My kids are happy; that is it. Bottom line. The story ends there.”

SECRET TO THEIR FRIENDSHIP: “All us have weathered some pretty heavy storms. We’ve had some major highs and lows in our life. And what has brought us together is how we stuck through those highs and lows. Those experiences, those situations, those times have bonded us. A friendship like this doesn’t happen overnight. It takes years of solidarity to reach where we have and that’s why we are where we are today.”

NEELAM KOTHARI

CLAIM TO FAME: Jewellery designer and one of the top heroines of the 80s; married to actor Samir Soni and mother to Ahana.

MOOD: Ms Prim and Proper

WHY SHE DID THE SERIES: “I was very apprehensive of doing it. My first reaction was — yes it would be fun — but I was scared to put myself out there.

“This is reality —you’ve got people capturing your life, your inner feelings and with your family. I wasn’t sure how people would react to me because they were seeing me after 20 years. They’ve seen me play roles. I’ve never played myself! So I was very nervous about that. Then my husband said, you are giving yourself too much importance. Just do it and you’ve got your three best friends on the show and you are going to have a blast… why not do something like this which is different. India has never done something like this. So I just feel that it’s not really a comeback but yes, in a way it is a comeback. It doesn’t get better than this. This kind of platform…And as for the negativity, even films get negative reviews! You’re going to have people who love you, who hate you, it’s all part of the game.

FACT VS FICTION: “The series wasn’t written. Situations were probably planted.

“It is a reality show and it was non scripted so whatever scenes you were seeing and whatever we were talking in the banter, that was all real stuff.”

BHAVANA PANDEY

CLAIM TO FAME: Fashion designer and wife of 80s actor Chunky Pandey and mother to the fresh-faced SOTY 2 actress Ananya Pandey and her sister Rysa.

MOOD: The Zen yogi

REACTION TO THE TRENDING SERIES: “Both my girls are very proud of me and that makes me extremely happy. My husband is very proud of me too. My father who is a very strict person and a man of few words, also found it nice. To get this kind of love from your friends, family and everyone has been the most amazing feeling.”

HOW SHE HANDLES THE HATERS: “You cannot expect only the good to come, you have to expect the bad too. You have to filter things out, that’s what I’ve realized over the years whether it has been with Chunky or more importantly with Ananya because as a mother I am way more involved in what comes for her than I was with Chunky. And I’ve realised you’ve to focus on the love you’re getting rather than on the negativity or the hatred. Yes, as humans beings we tend to get affected by it but when you read something you realise how much of it is genuine. And how much of it is people taking out their frustration, or just trying to be funny not realising that they are actually hurting someone. You just have to take it in your stride. I’m really happy that people have watched it, they have loved it, hated it, whatever. They’ve binge watched it! If there were no comments I would be scared.”

MAHEEP KAPOOR

CLAIM TO FAME: Wife of Sanjay Kapoor, mother to Shanaya and Jahaan; aunt to Sonam Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Jahnvi Kapoor.

MOOD: Fiery

REACTION TO THE TROLLING: “First of all honestly we are not used to the trolling. We have put our lives out there, our homes, our children which is very brave. And I’m patting myself on the shoulder by saying this and giving myself a crown! It’s not easy. I’m not expecting people to all love us. They don’t get us and I certainly don’t get them. So it’s fine. Go ahead troll all you want, I’m not focusing on that. Love us or hate us but don’t ignore us and you’re certainly not ignoring us!”

REALITY VS FICTION: “Honestly it was all facts. But having said that I think it is still the tip of the iceberg. It’s only 8 episodes of half an hour to 40 minutes each. You are never going to know our lives or us as people completely and utterly. We are still going to be misunderstood by a few people but it is predominately us. Apart from Neelam on this panel, none of us are actresses, so we should have got the Oscars!”

THAT QUOTE ABOUT BEING THE ‘UNSUCCESSFUL PART OF THE KAPOOR FAMILY’: “People see the glossy side. They just don’t understand that there is a side which is tough. I think I’m very successful in my own right. I’ve got peace of mind. Everyone cannot be Shah Rukh Khan. It’s the way it is.

My children are happy. I provide for my kids as much as Sanjay and I can. I think we are very successful but, yes, what I said on the show is true. You are forced to believe that because you are the unsuccessful one in the family... it comes... it is the highlight. This is also a difficult thing for us as parents that our kids are out there.

The biggest talents in our country are being trolled so I think I’m in really good company. So is Shanaya. So I’m ok with it!


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