EXCLUSIVE: Pankaj had already left me when I conceived Shahid; we never had a home: Neelima Azeem

Neelima Azeem has single-handedly raised Shahid Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar. Conceiving at the tender age of 21, Neelima Azeem got help from her parents during her first pregnancy when she had Shahid Kapoor. Balancing work and finances with a small child to look after, Neelima Azeem shared that she was very resilient since childhood. “When things were tough, I got tougher,” she said. Many years later, she had her second child Ishaan. Opening up on their childhood and how she raised them, Neelima Azeem shared her motherhood journey. She also opened up on how the kids dealt with separation news as children. Shahid Kapoor was hardly three and a half years old when Neelima Azeem and Pankaj Kapur went separate ways.

Opening up on how he reacted to it, Neelima Azeem told Bollywood Bubble, “Shahid was very young, he was three and a half years old. Shahid was born in Delhi while I was staying with my parents because Pankaj had left much earlier and shifted to Mumbai before we know that I had conceived. He wanted to try his luck in films and TV and I supported him because I thought he is a very talented and young man.”

“I was actually taken care of by my parents and my brother during the pregnancy all through. Later when Shahid was born, we were with my parents in their home. Pankaj and I never had a home together ever. Shahid was used to staying with us there in Delhi,” she continued.

 

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Neelima Azeem added, “It wasn’t as if that he stayed with his father and then he had to shift. He was in the same surrounding as he was born. So it did not make a huge difference to him. Of course, separation and divorce make a difference to children but he was very young and he was in the same family structure as he was used to be.”

Neelima Azeem also opened up on how she would take Shahid and Ishaan with her for concerts and festivals as she balanced work and personal life. She also opened up on how the two have grown up to be and how she is proud of them and their achievements.

ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: Neelima Azeem on her kids: Shahid is sensitive, Ishaan’s liberal; my life experiences became great learning for them

Bhavna Agarwal

Assistant Editor at Bollywood Bubble. An ambivert who is currently high on K-dramas and K-Pop. A forever Bollywood fan, who continues to gush over solid stories and characters. Hit me up for a fine conversation over chai.

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