Not just wives: Stars of hit Netflix show on how they built their fabulous lives

The stars of Netflix’s Fabulous Lives Vs Bollywood Wives – Shalini Passi, Neelam Kothari, Maheep Kapoor, Seema Sajdeh, and Bhavana Pandey, spoke at Business Today’s Most Powerful Women event at the session titled Art Meets Business: Wealth Creation By Leading Women on November 8. They spoke about Season 3 of the Netflix show, their glamorous lives and their entrepreneurial journey.
Maheep Kapoor: I’ve been living as a Bollywood wife for the past 5-6 years. It had a negative connotation in the 60s and 70s. Now, we have wives like Gauri Khan who have businesses and are not in shadow. It’s fun and glamorous, but it was important for us to put in a cause that we believe in for each season.
Last season, we cleaned up the beach. In Season 3, I addressed diabetes. I have a diabetes gang I am corresponding with now. The show came to us when we were in our middle age. It’s not over till it’s over. We’ve been sort of resurrected with the show.
Neelam Kothari: In the 80s and 90s, things were very different in films. There were hardly any women on sets. Today, the industry is full of women — from directors, writers to technicians.
My transition from being an actor to becoming a businesswoman was the hardest. I come from four generations of jewellers and learnt it from my father. When I started, I had no customers for 1-2 years. My celebrity status went against me. People thought I was an actor and knew nothing about the jewellery business.
Seema Sajdeh: Women are the first CEOs of their homes. Saving money with jugaad is something that I have done back when I was married. Women are way better at saving money and investing their finances in the right places than men.
Bhavana Pandey: Disciplining your children is very important. We earn money and want to save it to give our children a better life. We disciplined our girls when they were growing up. Even when we would travel, we had a budget and they were always aware. We took 1-2 holidays in our budget instead of 4-5 holidays a year.
I also come from a family where the women have always worked, and they have planned those things. Even Ananya [Panday], when she started working, she understood the importance of investing money in a house first. She knows the value of money and wants to invest in the right places. I learnt it from my mother and instilled it in Ananya and Rysa.
Shalini Passi: I never wanted to be the IT girl because I am not the IT girl. It’s my personal style. I was just having fun. I thought people might not like it because it’s a little maximalist. The makeup artist told me not to put so many clips, but I just wanted to.
Seema: I wasn’t there when I was in my 20s or even 30s. I am one of those people who are open to new experiences and take risks. You learn something from failures, but you take away that experience. I want to tell young girls to take the risk and do what they want to do.
Apart from the love and fame, we connected with a lot of women out there. I think it’s an encouragement in itself. We are not denying the privilege. We have all been where you have been – the journey and wanting to get there happens to everyone.
Neelam: Season 3 [of Fabulous Lives vs Bollywood Wives] has dropped, and more men have watched it than women. I think it’s the men who enjoy the gossip more than women.
Maheep: When I am gossiping with my girlfriends, the husbands are always lurking around.
Shalini: These amazing women out here made it so easy for us – they have worked for 5-6 years. Had I not known them for years and been comfortable, I wouldn’t have done it. I live for new experiences. I am more inclined to art and design for my life. It was exciting to be in front of the camera. OTT, camera – it was new for me. It was for the first time that I was working for someone rather than working for myself. I had to be responsible and that made me grow up a little bit more.
Neelam: When Karan [Johar] got this idea, I went all gung-ho about it. But, when the shoot was to begin, I got cold feet and chickened out. He asked me to take my time. Then I approached him again. He said one thing, “If you are going to do reality, you have to give your 100 per cent. Even if you make an a** of yourself, own it.” That has stayed with me.