Actor Govinda made his screen debut in 1986. Born as Govind Ahuja, he didn’t look like a ‘star’ at all, but for the next 15 years he was just unstoppable. He delivered hit after hit, shooting like a meteor over the horizon of Bollywood.
Yet his journey to the top was one of struggle, followed by years of triumph and then a sudden breakdown. On Govinda’s birthday on Monday, a look at his life struggle that was instrumental shapes his worldview. The actor turned 57 on Monday.
Govinda was born of an actor couple. His father Arun Ahuja had made nearly 40 films before leaving the film industry. His mother, Nirmala Devi, was a well-known classical singer and actor. Yet Govinda’s early life was one of poverty and struggle. His family stayed in a bungalow on Mumbai’s posh Carter Road (then Bombay), until a debacle in his father’s career brought the family down. Arun decided to produce a film and when it sank he was forced to sell his residence in Carter Road and move to Virar, in the suburbs of Mumbai, where Govinda was born.
Speaking to Simi Garewal, Govinda said their struggle was long and tough, especially as he saw his mother struggling so hard to make things work for them as a family. She had to take responsibility, such as marrying her four daughters. Govinda said of his father: “When he failed, he was very shocked. He couldn’t take it. “
Govinda, a graduate of commerce, spoke of the time when he would move from one office to another in search of a job. He went for a job interview at the Taj Mahal hotel for the job of a steward, but didn’t get it. “I didn’t do the job because I didn’t speak English. I couldn’t talk in front of them. ”
Shimei then asked him how he once said it was his anger when he saw his mother struggling that made him a star. “Sometimes when you find out when someone is struggling to get through the bad phase of life, struggling very hard and alone, especially a wife and a mother, and with six kids trying to process everything and still keep her dignity intact, the dignity of the family, to marry four daughters, it’s very difficult Anek aisi baatein huin joh chubti thiin (there were some incidents that would hurt) I’ve seen her go through all this I wanted to change it and it change quickly. “
His own initiation into films and acting was anything but easy. His parents had been actors, but there was a gap of nearly 33 years before he hit the scene. Speaking of which, he had told Hindustan Times in an interview, “There was a 33-year gap between those who left the film industry and I became an actor when I was 21. So by the time I entered the industry there were a lot of new producers who didn’t know much about my origins. I had to wait for hours to meet them. I understood why they talked or behaved in a certain way, but never let it get between me and my art. “
And yet, a year after making his debut in 1986, when he was only 22, he had signed up for 50 films! In his days of struggle, his drive to succeed was so strong that he would stop at nothing. When he appeared on Aap Ki Adalat in an interview with journalist Rajat Sharma, he had agreed to the claim that he would send his cassettes to producers through their servants!
Govinda was notorious for coming to sets late. But much more bizarre was his habit of signing films, at least at the start of his career, without even listening to the storyline. Often he arrived on sets and became familiar with his rules.
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Going further, he told Rajat how he learned early on not to get picky with work: “I had seen so much poverty and struggle that I often said to myself, ‘I will get a job. Do I actually have to ask their (makers) what will happen in the film? He related how he followed his mother’s advice: ‘Tumhe kaam mila hai, apne Ishwar pe bharosa rakkhna aur kaam karte raho, mehnat karte raho. Jo kaam karo immandarri se karo (you have a job now, have faith in God and keep working and do it with the utmost honesty). ”
After giving numerous hits, Govinda’s career experienced a major slump in the 2000s after the arrival of the Khans. But for those 15 years that it shone like a bright star, it was simply untouchable. As an actor who played both comedy and social dramas, only a second innings should be expected from the actor.
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