Neelam Kothari Soni’s honesty has a way of shining on the screen. As she pursued her acting career in the ’80s and early ’90s, she was the quintessential girl-next-door, whose one smile was enough to break hearts. However, she quit acting early to focus on her family. Decades later, as she returned to the screen with Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives, it was her charm and her vulnerability that endeared her to audiences again. As the reality show’s third season streams on Netflix, the actor opens about how it has brought her closer to her three friends—Maheep Kapoor, Bhavana Panday, and Seema Sajdeh—her reaction to the new entrants on the show, and putting up her life for public scrutiny.

Edited excerpts from the interview.