In tune with the times
RANA SIDDIQUI
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Here is an emotional and musical side to Govinda.
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PEOPLE'S PERSON Govinda is not only an accomplished actor, he is a good singer too.
Govinda and Salman Khan’s great partnership in David Dhawan’s recent roll-out “Partner” has proven itself. It has not only given Govinda a new lease of (reel) life but also reaffirmed the audiences’ faith on his antics.
If he tirelessly praises Khan for being with him through thick and thin during his recent hiatus from the film industry, he swears by Dhawan’s friendship, for he made a “special comeback” film for him.
“I was too tired of sitting at home and saying ‘yes’ and ‘thank you’ as a politician. I was missing films. So I called up David and said that I wanted to resume acting. A creative person cannot stay away from his creative field for long. I did go to politics but I didn’t ‘do politics’,” says Govinda, looking completely relaxed on the sets of Star Voice of India in Mumbai. He is the ‘celebrity judge’ for Bemisaal Barah, twelve contestants selected from across India after auditions in six cities. Govinda is not the opposite of how he looks on the big screen; the smile doesn’t leave his face, he jokes away on the slightest provocation , takes criticism positively and turns negative remarks in his favour. Just sample this: when during a shot, a contestant came on the stage with colourful gumboots designed by Vikram Phadnis and singer Abhijeet, one of the judges, said mockingly, “Your boots are as good as Govinda’s films,” Govinda shot back, “The shoe is the only thing that I didn’t like in this contestant. Abhijeet really likes it. Please give it to him…” Or, seeing another contestant wearing a shining red jacket, Govinda commented, “I wonder what kind of costumes I endorsed!”
Govinda has always been criticised for wearing weird costumes in bizarre colour combination in his films. But he sailed through them smoothly. “I remember whenever some bizarre dress hit the market, people would say, ‘Ye to
Govinda chhaap kapde hain’ (these are Govinda style clothes). But it didn’t lead to lack of affection among my fans, because they concentrated on my acting rather than my dresses,” he says.
As a judge of this reality hunt too, he wins over the hearts of one and all with his remarks like “your voice has an innocence, never let it go”, or “your voice is full of warmth, we barely get to hear such voices”, or “I wonder at songs like ‘Tujhko mirchi lagi’ that I sang in my films. I wrote the song with friends in college and used to sing it in Marathi…”
Why he did it
One wonders why he ever endorsed those red pants with yellow shirts, orange jackets with striped gumboots. The reason doesn’t have anything to do with his taste. Rather it was due to the circumstances at home. Govinda says in an emotional tone, “My mother Nirmala Devi was an accomplished classical artiste. But she didn’t get her due commercially. All classical artistes suffer financially like she did. They do get awards and titles, people respect them but all these don’t translate into money. It actually doesn’t affect them personally because they have a saintly attitude, but those associated with them (read family) have to suffer because of lack of finances. I also suffered. So, when I decided to take up acting as a career, I did those films which would be commercially successful. I did everything, from outlandish dances to wearing weird costumes, to bring home money. My mother wanted me to become a banker to earn money but my father, who always struggled as an actor, encouraged me to continue acting.”
Govinda, who used to sing classical ragas with his mother, couldn’t continue singing. “I always wanted to learn classical music. I will do it now,” he says on a sentimental note.
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