GOVINDA’S REMINISCES: Signing 75 films at 21, Dilip Kumar advising him to drop 25, actor’s witty response ‘Main paise lautaunga kaise?’
Govinda is one of the popular comedian actors that Hindi cinema will be forever proud of. He is best known for movies like Hero No.1, Hadh Kar Di Aapne, Dulhe Raja, Coolie No. 1, Partner and more. Do you know there was a time when Govinda had more than 70 movies in the initial stage of his career in Bollywood? Govinda once recalled signing 75 films at the age of 21, and Dilip Kumar advised him to leave 25 of them.
Let’s dig deep into this throwback. During a podcast interview with Maniesh Paul, Govinda recalled how he nodded for 75 movies when he was just 21 years old.
“Main film line mein kahan aaya, mujhe film line thamai gayi thi. Upar wale ne film line di thi ki bhaiyya is sambhaliye (I didn’t enter the film industry; God handed over the responsibility to manage it),” Govinda said.
Reminiscing his conversation with late veteran actor Dilip Kumar, Govinda shared that he advised him to drop 25 movies. To which, the Hero No 1. actor informed him that he had received the signing amount from the makers. “Main paise lautaunga kaise (How will I return the money to them)?” Govinda quipped.
Dilip Kumar then convinced him by saying that God would make it happen and asked him to return the amount. Govinda agreed to his advice.
Govinda added that he used to get sick on the sets and would often visit hospitals as he was working tirelessly. The actor then revealed that he once didn’t sleep for 16 days as he was working on the set continuously for over two weeks.
On the work front, Govinda marked his debut with the film Love 86 in 1986. His other movies from the 1980s era include Ilzaam, Sada Suhagan, Dadagiri, Do Qaidi, Pyaar Karke Dekho, Khudgarz, Paap Ko Jalaa Kar Raakh Kar Doonga, Jeete Hain Shaan Se, and many more.
He worked with filmmaker David Dhawan in several comedy movies in the 1990s era, which are still cherished to date. Govinda was last seen in Rangeela Raja, a film released in 2019.
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