Veteran actor Govinda has often opened up about his absolute devotion to his late mother, classical singer Nirmala Devi. So much so, that the actor decided to do the 1998 hit Bade Miyan Chote Miyan with Amitabh Bachchan, only for her. In a recent interview, Govinda recalled welcoming Bachchan at his house, and his mother’s advice to not let the superstar leave empty-handed. The senior actor was dealing with a spate of flops and needed a hit to resurrect his fortunes.
Govinda’s mother died before the film’s shooting began, but he filmed for it despite not being in the right frame of mind as he had promised her. The actor also got candid about his long-standing association with filmmaker David Dhawan.
During an appearance on The Kapil Sharma Show years ago, Govinda had revealed that he wasn’t keen to do Bade Miyan Chote Miyan initially, because he had lost his dear ones and their deaths affected him deeply. The actor didn’t feel ready to headline a comedy film. When David narrated the film to him, he had rejected it. However, Amitabh Bachchan later went to Govinda’s house to convince him to do the film.
Now, in a recent conversation with ANI, Govinda recalled his mother asking him to take care of his guest Amitabh Bachchan. “She asked me to not let Amitabh ji go empty handed. Inka seva karke hi yahan se jaane dena (Let him go after helping him). ‘You are a Thakur, he has come to your house Govind. This is good luck, provide service’, she said,” he shared.
The actor further added, “He came to ask me for a film – Bade Miyan Chote Miyan. Some time after he came, the tragedy happened with my mom. I was not in the right frame of mind to do that movie, but my mother had asked me to do it, so I did. It took me a lot of time to get over her death.” Govinda’s mother Nirmala Devi died in 1996, due to age-related causes.
While Amitabh Bachchan has been associated with the film industry for over 50 years now, he experienced a low phase where the audience had lost faith in him. The veteran actor had agreed that stardom keeps changing, and he witnessed it first-hand, with Govinda.
Bachchan was in his transition phase and was trying to create his own identity in the late 80s due to his fading stardom, while Govinda had become a huge star with Love 86. During the same period, the duo collaborated on Mukul Anand’s Hum. While interacting with Movie magazine earlier, Bachchan recalled an anecdote from the shoot of the film.
“I was shooting with Govinda for Hum when a group of young kids came up to me and one of the boys asked for an autograph. Govinda was standing next to me. There was a young, cute girl who gave him a slap and said ‘Woh nahin, yeh. Govinda ka autograph lo‘ (Not him. Take Govinda’s autograph),” he shared, adding, “People will want to watch the younger lot. I made mistakes and kept trying to rectify them in film after film. But there’s no denying that it is the turn of the younger boys now, because today’s audiences are between 18 and 30.”
When Govinda finally said yes to the film, he had doubts about having clashes with Bachchan’s punctuality, because he himself used to arrive late on set, because of being tied up with too many films.
During an old interaction with Aaj Tak, Govinda had recalled being honest with Bachchan since day one. “When I started the film, I spoke to Mr Amitabh Bachchan and said ‘Sir, I have signed too many films, senior actors often don’t work with me. How are you here? When he joined, I was scared because he is such a veteran. People were also scaring me that he always comes on time. I said I can’t (come on time) because I am tied up in so many movies,” he shared.
Big B had the most practical solution for their problem. “Mr Bachchan said, ‘You call me and let me know what time are you coming. I don’t have a problem and it is not my concern if anyone has a problem with your timings’. After this conversation, I signed that film,” he said.
In fact, actor Vijay Patkar had once shared how the veteran superstar used to personally go to Govinda’s house to pick him up. “Amitabh used to go in his car and honk for him to come along to the shoot. He would bring him to set in his car. That’s why Bachchan ji is still working. If you want to throw tantrums, first reach that level,” he told Filmymantra.
Govinda and David Dhawan were one of the most popular actor-director duos, back in the 1990s. From Raja Babu, Coolie No 1 to Hero No 1 and Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, they delivered several comedy hits together. In the same interview, the veteran actor revealed the reason behind the end of their successful run.
“David is a simple, a good man, a child of God. When he felt that the time had come that he cannot continue with Govinda any further, so he stopped. I was wanting to do more films with him, but he didn’t do it. I felt like that he is going by his own thinking, and I never doubted that. Rarely I used get angry and call him to express my feelings. He used to understand,” he said.
Govinda emphasized that the two are in touch even today. “Even today, if my name comes up anywhere, he starts crying. He is sincere, he is a good guy. I talk to him. Whenever I miss him, I call him up. Just recently, I had called him before his film’s release. I was wanting to meet him,” he shared.
