‘David Dhawan asked Govinda to play secondary roles,’ Sunita Ahuja recounts what led to the spat between the two: ‘David wasn’t wrong’

Govinda and David Dhawan's last film was the 2009 comedy Do Knot Disturb. The duo hasn't worked together since, despite the filmmaker making five other movies.

By: Entertainment Desk

Mumbai | September 14, 2024 03:01 PM IST

3 min read

Sunita Ahuja talks about why Govinda and David Dhawan had a fall out. (Photo: Express Archives, Sunita Ahuja/Instagram)

Actor Govinda’s wife Sunita Ahuja has spilled the beans on the reason behind the fallout between David Dhawan and the actor, who were the formidable director-star duo of the 90s. The long-time collaborators buried their differences recently, after years of friction. During the podcast Timeout with Ankit, Sunita was asked about the reason of their fight. She said it dates back to the time when David suggested that Govinda should take up secondary roles in films.

“According to me, heroes should know when their time is up. You were the top star of the 90s, but if you still want to live in the 90s world, that’s not going to work. David would have told him that he should do second lead roles as well like Amitabh Bachchan or Akshay Kumar had done. The problem is also the yes men around you; they poison you endlessly, feeding narrative into your head that you are a hero and must only do those parts. But that doesn’t work, you must be with the trend.

“Maybe Govinda didn’t like the idea of being a second lead, because in the 90s he only delivered solo hits with David. So maybe he couldn’t take it, that ‘why should I be second to Akshay or whatever’, so they had differences on that. I don’t think David was wrong and Govinda was also right in his place, because he had never done a second lead role before,” she added.

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Sunita Ahuja then said she has been a vocal critic of Govinda and is always quick to point out if he is faltering. This, she said, doesn’t always go well with the actor as he is surrounded by “chamchas“. “I always tell him. He says, mere ghar mein hi mere dushman hai. But I am like ‘we are not your enemies, just telling you the reality, you should listen’. But ek hero ke aas pass chaar chamche hote hai (Heroes have yes men around them). I am not one of those. I really get angry on them and always say, they should launch their own ‘Wah wah Productions’ and launch more yes men,” she added.

Govinda and David Dhawan’s last film was the 2009 comedy Do Knot Disturb. Post that, Dhawan and Govinda parted ways. The director went on to make five more feature films, none starring Govinda. Some of their biggest hits include Swarg, Saajan Chale Sasural, Hero No 1, Raja Babu among others.

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