Not James Cameron, Govinda was approached to star in Pahlaj Nihalani’s Avatar: ‘Uske dimaag ka disc ghum gaya’

Matt Damon stood to make $200 million from James Cameron’s Avatar, but he turned the part down. In later interviews, he said that it was one of the mostly costly mistakes of his life. Govinda, on the other hand, recently claimed (not for the first time) that he was also offered the lead role in the blockbuster film. But even in his own story, he was offered a mere Rs 18 crore. He told actor Mukesh Khanna in a recent interview that he said no to Cameron, saying that he refused to play a differently abled person in the film. Avatar remains the highest-grossing film in global box office history, which total earnings standing at almost $3 billion.

Now, Govinda’s former collaborator, producer Pahlaj Nihalani, has claimed (again, not for the first time) that Govinda likely mistook the film that they were working on for Cameron’s project. Nihalani said that he and Govinda had even shot a significant portion of the project, also titled Avatar, before it was shelved. In an interview with The Times of India, Nihalani said that he regrets axing Avatar at Govinda’s suggestion, even after they’d filmed 40% it. He said that the movie was about a youth leader, and was set against the backdrop of a football game. “It had no connection with James Cameron’s Avatar,” he said.

Also read – Govinda reveals James Cameron offered him Rs 18 crore for Avatar: ‘I have given the film’s title’

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In a 2024 interview with Friday Talkies, Nihalani had said, “Woh Avatar title se pata nahi uske dimaag mein kya aaya, baad mein claim karta raha ki main waha (Hollywood) ki Avatar kar raha hoon. Uske dimaag ka disc ghum gaya aur language Hindi se English mein chala gaya (I don’t know what happened to him, but he started claiming that he was offered the Hollywood Avatar).”

To Mukesh Khanna, Govinda had recently said, “I had met a Sardarji in America and gave him a business idea that worked; some years later, he made me meet James Cameron. He asked me to do a film with James, so I invited them for dinner to discuss it. I have given the film’s title – Avatar. James told me the hero in the film was handicapped, so I said I am not doing the film. He offered me Rs 18 crore for it and said I would be required to shoot for 410 days.”

Govinda and Nihalani had a falling out after working together on the film Rangeela Raja. Govinda’s career has been on a downward spiral, with Nihalani speculating in interviews that the actor became too superstitious to be trusted. In recent months, his wife Sunita Ahuja has also alluded to his behavioural issues.