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Govinda Returns
Nostalgia is bringing back the dancing superstar with a slew of projects, after a few career slumps
- PUBLISHED: Fri 28 Nov 2014, 4:32 PM UPDATED: Thu 1 Aug 2024, 1:16 PM
He can be exasperating and he can be courtesy personified. I've seen both sides of the actor, once tagged as the Dancing Wonder. And to be honest, I still don't quite know what to make of him. Indeed, he had me tearing my hair out on the day of a film awards event. He was scheduled to perform one of his extremely popular song-dance numbers on stage.
But till the last minute, he sent phone messages from a hill town, a two-hour flight away from Mumbai, that he had changed his mind - hinting not so subtly that he would arrive, only if he was presented the Best Actor trophy for one of his rib-tickling performances!
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No award, no show. But just as we'd juggled the event to replace him with another dance sensation, there he was, smiling wide, saying something to the effect of: “The show must go on, right? Award or no award.” That's Govinda - born Govind Arun Ahuja - for you, as unpredictable as the monsoon.
He turns 51 next month (on December 21), and is currently back in business big time after suffering career slumps. Kill Dil features him as a villain, while Happy Ending shows him off as a quick-witted movie superstar.
No longer considered 'down market' - he had become legendary for his flashy clothes - Govinda is now acknowledged as an actor whose flair for comedy and dance haven't been matched by the next generation.
No longer scoffed at, a nostalgia-soaked yearning for the pelvis-rotating actor with astonishingly speedy dialogue delivery has made him an icon today. No more poison pellets are aimed at him for those double entendre Sarkai Lo Khatiya dance interludes.
Compared to the vulgarity rampant in today's cinema, the man's squeaky clean. Oddly enough, he refuses to feature in any film directed by David Dhawan, although they have belted out a slew of hits together, with as many as 17 films, down the decades.
Incidentally, Govinda has toted a score of 185 films in a career that kicked off in 1986. For starters, he was regarded as the next Mithun Chakraborty aka the Disco Dancer. Next, Govinda's fluency with the Hindi language and boyish demeanour endeared him to the nation, a relief from the angry, vendetta-seeking heroes of the era. If Amitabh Bachchan still continued to loom over the scene, it wasn't to the point of exclusion of his younger peers.
And when Amitabh Bachchan and Govinda came together finally, in Bade Miyan Chote Miyan in 1998, the result was a strange brew, but nevertheless, a commercially successful one. It was the ageing angry man who had to keep up with the high-energy antics of Govinda. To date, I wouldn't recommend Bade Miyan Chote Miyan to my worst enemy. But yes, here was a perfect example of a hybrid entertainer, full of sound and flurry, signifying nothing except cash collections. After all, that's what counts, sense and logic be damned.
Not for long though. As Govinda's tomfoolery became repetitive, a decline was inevitable. Moreover, the pleasant-natured boy, with his roots in Virar, a far-flung suburb of Mumbai, became infamous for reporting late - if at all - on the studio sets.
Plus, he appeared to develop several kinks. Suddenly, Govinda abhorred being called by his pet name Chi Chi. According to reports, he once wanted a child wearing a bright red sweater to be removed from the sets. Why? Because the red sweater disturbed the actor's concentration. Suspicious of the meals served to him, he insisted on bringing his own chefs to shoot locations, as well as a cow, which would supply him with fresh milk!
Salman Khan was instrumental in resurrecting Govinda's career in 2007 by teaming up with him in the knockabout comedy Partner. A slump followed again. In Mani Ratnam's Raavan, he was a cog in the proverbial wheel. Then, the actor seemed keen to launch his daughter Narmada as a heroine.
As for his political career, his stint as an elected Member of Parliament proved short-lived. He was criticised for ignoring his constituency and, like most movie stars, backtracked from the complicated world of politics.
Miraculously, Govinda has bounced back. Mira Nair has announced that he will play the eponymous part in her next project, The Bengali Detective. He has the high-profile projects Jagga Jasoos, Shaandar and Hero on his plate. Salman Khan has sought to mend fences by tweeting about him. And he's back to being convivial on TV chat shows and in the media. Good for him.
Now, here's a man and actor whose tenacity as well as paradoxical ways surely deserve a dozen biographies.
