Hero No. 1, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Coolie No. 1 and Partner. Any 90s kid knows that the common thread between these films is none other than superstar Govinda. We’ve grown up laughing with him but ever since his recent appearance in Rajat Sharma’s Aap Ki Adalat, many fans have been cracking jokes at his expense.
In the show, Govinda spoke at length about his fallout with director David Dhawan and also revealed that he rejected the lead role in filmmaker James Cameron’s Hollywood blockbuster ‘Avatar’.
This gave birth to a spate of memes on the internet with people trolling him for his claims. In a candid interview with The Times of India, the actor went on record to speak about how this felt.
“I am not active on social media, but my daughter Tina keeps me in the loop. I am fine with people wondering how someone like Govinda could refuse a James Cameron film. I can understand where they are coming from. I respect that thought. They are entitled to have that opinion, but to say how come Govinda got that offer in the first place, is wrong.”
He further added,
“It’s not like meri aukad nahi hai. It’s prejudiced behaviour. Chai wala aagey kaise badh sakta hain? TV actors films mein kaise aa sakte hain? This is that same elitist, superiority complex. Yeh galat hai. Aapko vishwas nahi karna hai toh mat kijiye, but don’t say things like this.”
Talking about how he came in contact with James Cameron, he said,
“There was a sardarji, who knew me well and belonged to the medical world. He was my senior, and Dev sahab’s (Dev Anand) friend. He was also one of the financers of the film (Avatar).”
He shed light on the reason he rejected the Hollywood offer by saying, “When I heard the subject, I thought I won’t be able to match up to the physicality required to essay that character, that needed to be covered in body paint for over 400 days.”
Govinda also talked about refusing Anil Kapoor’s role in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, “I loved the thought of the film that you don’t have to be highly educated to make it big in life, you have to be street-smart. However, I had two objections with that film… the poop scene in the beginning and the title. I wasn’t comfortable with the word ‘Slumdog’ and that scene.”
The star also recalled how he was mocked at the very beginning of his Bollywood career,
“People making a laughing stock of me is not new. I was mocked even at the beginning of my career because I dared to become an actor. They thought, I am from Virar gaon, yeh kaise hero banega! Even after my films did well, a certain section of people believed iska success toh fluke hai.”
When asked of a possible reason why he was being made a subject of memes, he had this to say,
“I was labelled as a massy entertainer and I had no issue with it as it suited me. That could be a reason why the thought of me rejecting Avatar sounds funny to people. Woh ek ‘massy’ (dance and comedy) image logon ke dil mein beth jaati hai. I was never called a superstar; I was always ‘Virar ka chokra’ in all the articles.”
Do you think the meme-fest that his interview generated was all in good fun? Or did it get a little out of hand? Tell us.