The Many Comebacks Of Govinda

He is surely one of the most versatile actors of Indian cinema, and has had a pretty decent career entertaining the masses. Be it his charming smile, his loud choice of colors, or the way he moves his body in street dances, Govinda has somehow always related to a common Indian, making him one of India’s most loved actors.

Starting his career in 1986 with the movie Ilzaam, Govinda has been a part of more than 150 films, but this journey has not been smooth. Many a times in his career, he has faced setbacks and career pauses, only to try and strike back later.

The first setback that he faced in his career was in early 2000s, right after he faced enormous success in the 1990s. In the early 2000s, a number of his films failed to perform commercially. He also turned down roles in several movies like Taal, the role was later played by Anil Kapoor; and Devdas, the role was later played by Jackie Shroff. Both the movies went on to garner critical and commercial success.

It was not that Govinda was rejecting these roles for something bigger or better. The films that he did during those times accounted only for his screen presence and nothing else. There was nothing new that he could offer, nothing for which audience could have gone for his movies, and as a result, the movies tanked, leaving Govinda with no hopes to cling to.

Only in his 30s, which is generally the golden period in an Indian actor’s career, he had begun to lose out on films; and thanks to better choices, his contemporaries were establishing themselves as bigger actors.

Another problem in his acting career was his career as a politician. He took a sabbatical from acting in 2003, only to return in 2005, albeit with either the same roles or the release of his delayed movies, all of which turned out to be disasters. It isn’t in vain what they say in Bollywood, out of sight means out of mind.

His minor relief came in the form of Bhagam Bhag, where he finally agreed to do a two-hero movie. His impeccable comic timing paired with a strong script worked for him, and his performance was well complemented by Akshay Kumar. The movie became a hit and people thought that Govinda had returned.

Later, he did a critically successful role of an Indian taxi driver falling in love with a foreigner traveller in Salaam-e-Ishq. However, the major success came in his way in the form of Partner, a movie that offered the fresh pairing of Govinda and Katrina Kaif, also starring Salman Khan and Lara Dutta. The film, which was a huge hit, is recalled as one of the greatest hits of his career.

However, he could not maintain the success and did commercial duds like Money Hai Toh Honey Hai. Other than one or two stable films, Govinda’s career had again taken a setback.

In late 2000s and early 2010s, movies like Do Knot Disturb, Raavan, Naughty @ 40, Loot, Deewana Main Deewana and Samadhi did nothing to revive his sinking career.

2014 is nearing its end, Govind Arun Ahuja has crossed his golden 40s, and is seen only in one movie, Holiday, as of yet. Even that role can easily be termed as a guest appearance. He would now be seen in some big-budget movies like Kill Dil and Happy Ending in 2014 and Hero and Jagga Jasoos in 2015.

Although his roles in both the movies releasing this year look promising, whether these movies will again mark his comeback or would just add to many of his failed attempts, remains to be seen.