Ishaan Khatter opened up about his mother Neelima Azeem’s incredible sacrifices in a recent interview, revealing how she single-handedly raised him and Shahid Kapoor while setting aside her own dreams as a dancer. Despite being a deeply passionate artiste, Neelima always chose motherhood first, and Ishaan credits her for shaping the person he is today.
Neelima Azeem raised both Shahid Kapoor and Ishaan Khatter alone, even though the two brothers are 15 years apart in age. She gave up her dreams of dancing and acting to earn money and care for her sons. Ishaan recently talked about this in an interview, sharing how his mother always put her children before her own dreams.
Ishaan Khatter recalls Neelima Azeem’s journey as a dancer
Talking to Lilly Singh, Ishaan shared that his mother started dancing professionally at age 9, learning under the great Pandit Birju Maharaj. She was so talented that by age 14, her picture appeared on a postage stamp, which was a big deal. Ishaan also said that growing up, he saw his mother play the role of both his mom and dad while handling everything else by herself. “In many ways, I saw my mother double up throughout my childhood. I also grew up with an elder brother who is 15 years older than me, so he was, in many ways, a parental figure. It is a very interesting relationship again, where we are more like pals than brothers, but there will always be a line of respect. He has changed my diapers, so every argument ends with, ‘I am older than you,’” he said.
Ishaan Khatter on having Neelima Azeem as a mother
Neelima had Shahid when she was 21 with her first husband Pankaj Kapur, and had Ishaan when she was 36 with her second husband Rajesh Khatter. Ishaan talked about what it was like to have her as a mother and said, “Just watching mom navigate every phase of her life, trying to do her best and also being a very liberal kind of parent where… She had me when she was about 36, she had my brother when she was 21-22, so they were like friends. She had me a little later, but she still maintained that vibe and friendship with me where I felt I could share anything with her and I didn’t have to hesitate. And that I think has contributed to the person I became in many ways. I am just glad I had a parent I didn’t need to hide from or lie to.”
Ishaan Khatter opens up about Neelima Azeem’s sacrifices
Ishaan also touched upon the many sacrifices his mother made for her children, saying, “Anything that’s worth it requires sacrifice but the way in which working women who are also parents give those parts of themselves, like you have to be a superwoman. And I have seen her make those choices. Whether it’s taking a job that gives more consistent pay but is not what you see yourself doing, or creatively excites you. Or taking that job just to be able to run the house and have that security. She has done that for the better part of one’s childhood, and you have seen that.”
Neelima Azeem always put motherhood before her artistic dreams
He added that despite her identity as an artiste being deeply important to her, she always put motherhood first. “The artiste in her is a big part of who she is, and she has put that second to the mother in her often, and I have seen that,” he said.
More about Ishaan Khatter’s work
On the film front, Ishaan Khatter recently starred in the critical darling ‘Homebound’ (which served as India’s official entry for the 2026 Academy Awards), and he recently commenced shooting for his next theatrical outing, a crime-thriller titled ‘Jugaadu’ directed by Palash Vaswani. Khatter will also reprise his role in ‘The Royals’ Season 2. Go to Source
