Bollywood actor turned entrepreneur Neelam Kothari talks about the challenges she faced in male-dominated Bollywood and how she transitioned from acting to running her own jewelery business, Neelam Jewels. The stars of Netflix’s Fabulous Lives vs Bollywood Wives, including Shalini Pasi, Neelam Kothari, Maheep Kapoor, Seema Sajdeh and Bhavana Pandey, spoke in a session of Business Today’s Most Powerful Women programme.

Reflecting on her early days in the industry, Kothari described a scenario where few women played roles behind the scenes. “At that time, if we were talking about women in the industry, it was often just me and maybe my hair stylist – there were no other women around,” she recalled. “Today, the industry is full of talented women: writers, directors, actors – it’s really inspiring to see how far we’ve come.”

However, her transition into business was not easy. Kothari candidly shared that her move from actress to jeweler was the “hardest transition” of her life.

Although she came from a family of jewelers – both her grandfather and great-grandfather worked in the trade – she found that people often doubted her business acumen because of her celebrity background.

“When I started my jewelery business, people assumed, ‘Oh, she’s an actress who has nothing else to do, so now she’s trying her hand at jewellery,'” she said. Despite his heritage, Kothari’s celebrity status often worked against him. “People thought, ‘What does she know about business? We’re not buying from her.'”

He added, “It was incredibly challenging, but slowly and surely, I built my brand.”

“I didn’t have any clients for about 1-2 years, and then I slowly but surely built my brand, and I think my celebrity status worked against me because people thought she was not about business. I don’t know anything and we won’t be buying from her,” Neelam concluded.

Neelam Kothari’s story resonates as a broader reflection on the changing roles of women in various industries, as she acknowledges the progress made in the entertainment industry.