‘Superstitious’ Govinda didn’t board a flight for Hyderabad shoot, Aruna Irani went to his home in Mumbai to bring him: Himani Shivpuri

Actor Himani Shivpuri gives insights into working with Govinda and how his belief in astrology and style of working changed people's perception about the actor.

Govinda, Karisma Kapoor and Himani Shivpuri in Hero No 1.

Actors can never truly walk out of the public eye, even during or after the twilight of their careers. That job becomes more difficult when you are a star like Govinda, who has recently been the topic of discourse for tabloids all over the country. While many stories about the actor came to light, a pattern of being late to sets shone through. Actor Himani Shivpuri, who has worked with him on several occasions, talked about Govinda in a recent interview and revealed what happened to the actor.

While making an appearance on Red FM’s YouTube channel, Himani was asked about working with Govinda and the negative attention he has been getting these days. For the most part the actor defended him and said, “I think Govinda is one of the most talented actors. He is such a wonderful dancer too, and I have worked with him during the good phase. We used to enjoy a lot while doing scenes together, and we would improvise so much that the director would get annoyed with it and tell us to stop. He always used to ask for one more take, and I had to assure him a lot of times that the shot was fine and we didn’t need another take, but still he wouldn’t budge.”

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She shed some light on why he changed and said, “He was great to work with, but somehow things went a little off track. He started believing in muhurats (auspicious moments) and whatever his pandits were telling him about the right and wrong time to do things. For example, we were going to Hyderabad for a shoot, and Aruna Irani was the producer. I, Raveena Tandon, Aruna and director Kuku Kohli all reached there, and we realised that Govinda was missing; he never boarded the flight.”

Continuing the story, she revealed that it was Aruna who handled Govinda’s absence. She said, “Kuku started panicking while saying, ‘Chi-chi kaha hai?’ (Where is Govinda?). But Aruna calmed him down and said, ‘Aap log jaao, mai lekar aati hoon’ (You guys carry on, I’ll go and get him). She went to his house and brought him over for the shoot on the evening flight. I really don’t know what happened to him; maybe someone told him that it wasn’t the right time to work. But he always used to treat me with respect, and it was very fun to work with him.”

Several people from the industry have commented on Govinda’s habit of showing up late on sets or just up and leaving them altogether. Actor Shehzad Khan told Bollywood Thikana that while shooting Bade Miyan Chote Miyan with Amitabh Bachchan, Govinda made an excuse to leave the set and then took a flight for Mumbai without informing anyone. Chi Chi asked David Dhawan if he could go and receive his wife at the airport. The airport is a little while away from the studio, and David Ji gave him permission to go but told him to return immediately. He left but didn’t return. In the evening, David ji received a call from him saying that he was in Mumbai. He said that he’d return the following day,” said Shehzad.

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