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Govinda and David Dhawan didn’t want Saroj Khan to choreograph Coolie No 1 song, recalls choreographer Ganesh Acharya

Govinda and David Dhawan wanted to work with Ganesh Acharya as they felt that his style would work with the actor, but the producer was keen on hiring choreographer Saroj Khan. The director-actor duo came up with a scheme so they could have their way.

Govinda and Karisma Kapoor in a still from Coolie No 1.

Back in the 1990s, Govinda was known for his comic timing and his dance numbers but not many people know that the man behind many of Govinda’s hit songs was choreographer Ganesh Acharya. In a new interview, Ganesh recalled how he got his initial break with Govinda and how the actor and director David Dhawan were instrumental in getting him his first big hit, Coolie No 1’s “Husn Hai Suhana”.

Talking to Friday Talkies, Ganesh said that he had tasted a bit of success with a few songs when his sister told him that his dancing style would work well with Govinda’s on-screen image. Ganesh then decided to meet Govinda but that was a task in itself as the actor was one of the biggest stars of the time. Ganesh said that he would stand outside Govinda’s apartment building and he did so for six months before actually getting a meeting with him. After a long wait, Govinda finally gave him the opportunity to choreograph for a film called Prem Shakti. He was allotted just two days to shoot but on both these days, Govinda just showed up for one hour each and Ganesh managed to wrap the song in just two hours. This impressed Govinda and he then called David Dhawan so Ganesh could get a bigger break.

“He gave me a song from Saajan Chale Sasural, ‘Tum toh dhokhebaaz ho’. He was so happy with the song that the film’s shoot, which was halted, was resumed,” the choreographer recalled. David and Govinda then made it a point that Ganesh would choreograph the next big song in their film Coolie No 1, which was “Husn hai suhana”. Recalling this story, Ganesh said, “Saroj Khan and Chinni Prakash were the top choreographers then and Ramesh Taurani wanted them to do the song. Govinda and David wanted me to do the film.”

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Whenever Ramesh would fix up the dates of Saroj Khan, David and Govinda would say they are unavailable. “Then the film was about to be released, and both of them found out when Saroj and Chinni Prakash would be busy. They found four dates to shoot where these two would be unavailable. Ramesh ji asked who would shoot the song since Saroj and Chinni were busy, they then brought up my name and said, ‘Ganesh is free, he will do it.'”

Ganesh Acharya recalled that he worked tirelessly on the song and it turned out to be one of the biggest hits of the year. Ganesh also added that he went on to do over 150 films with Govinda in the next few years.

“Husn Hai Suhana” continues to be one of Govinda’s most popular dance numbers from the 1990s.

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