Some of my good films also didn’t get right kind of release: Govinda

While struggles shape us better, it’s how we deal with them that defines us, feels Govinda. Amid the raging outsider vs insider debate, the actor points that despite his parents — Nirmala Devi and Arun Kumar Ahuja — being actors, he went through his own share of struggle.

“There was a gap of 33 years between them leaving the film industry and me becoming an actor at 21. So, by the time I entered the industry, many new producers had started working, who didn’t know much about my lineage. I had to wait for hours to meet them,” he recounts.

Though Govinda tasted success quite early on in his career, he confesses that many thought he wouldn’t be able to make it at all. “I’ve been told this on my face. But I knew even the likes of Raj Kapoor ji, Jeetendra ji, Amitabh Bachchan ji, Vinod Khanna ji and Rajesh Khanna ji went through a lot too,” he says.

Bollywood is known for having cut-throat competition, and Govinda says that one can’t let success get to their head. He explains, “Success at times, makes you harsh and doesn’t let you progress. Cinema is a form of art, and we’ve turned it into a business. Artistes are human beings, not products. Accept those who have merit.”

Govinda shares that the film industry is now being dictated by a handful of people. “Earlier whoever was talented, got work. Every film would get equal opportunity in theatres. But now, there are four or five people who dictate the whole business. Some of my good films also didn’t get the right kind of release,” he says.

Govinda’s daughter Tina Ahuja is also part of the film industry but he says he never went out of his way to help her. “She’s charting her own path and will rise whenever her time comes,” concludes the actor.