Go win Govinda

50, yet relevant, Govinda reinvents himself for Bollywood

You might have caught a glimpse of him in a cameo appearance as Pratap, Virat Bakshi’s Senior Commanding Officer in A.R. Murugadoss’ Holiday. But for the past three years, Govinda has kept himself out of Bollywood. However, looks like all that is about to change. The King of Comedy and dancing, who since his debut in 1986, has appeared in over 165 Hindi films is all set to sign more acting contracts.

Inspired by the film Disco Dancer, Govinda began his obsession with dance, which would soon lead to the launch of his career in the 1980s. Beginning with a few commercials, Govinda was finally slated to debut in a film called Tan-Badan directed by his uncle, Anand. . He started shooting for his next film Love 86 in June 1985 and by mid-July; he had under his belt 40 other films.

With his first film Ilzaam releasing in 1986, Govinda managed to already make his mark in Bollywood. Ilzaam became a blockbuster and managed to rank fifth that year. Song and dance being very important in Bollywood, Govinda’s break dancing moves in the song Street Dancer are said to have been the best thing about the film and what made him so popular with his fans. Thus, establishing himself as a dancing star earned him a spate of films after his debut.

Though his films in the 80s were around everything from romance to action to family drama; he gained the tag of the ‘King of Comedy’ in the 90s beginning with film Shola Aur Shabnam, where he played the role of a young NCC cadet. This successful film led to him playing the comic relief in Aankhen, Raja Babu, Coolie No. 1, Hero No. 1 and Haseena Maan Jaayegi in the 90s.

Unlike the 90s, however, the 2000s were not so lucky for Govinda. With sparse commercial successes in Bhagam Bhag (2006), Partner (2007), Life Partner (2009) and Raavan (2010), the star hit a low in his Bollywood career. What might have been responsible for this is the launch of his political career. After winning the seat of an MP in the Mumbai North Constituency of Maharashtra in the 14th Lok Sabha elections, Govinda launched his political career in 2004 and finally pulled out in 2009.

In 2011, he acted in films Naughty @ 40, Loot and was the voice of character Bajrangi in 3D Animation film Delhi Safari. In year 2013, his film Deewana Main Deewana released After 10 years, along with musical album named Gori Tere Naina.

Today, after a hiatus of three years, Govinda has once again started starring in an array of films, beginning with Kill Dil, Happy Ending, the self-produced Abhinay Chakra, Jagga Jasoos, Afra Tafri, Avatar, Bengali Detective and Hero.

Fourteen years after playing the sociopath villan for the first time in Shikari, Govinda donnes the negative character of Bhaiyaji in Shaad Ali’s Kill Dil, who rescues two young boys from the street to bring them up as killers. The crux of the movie balances on the conflict that ensues between one of the boys, Dev played by Ranveer Singh and Govinda when he falls for Disha Played by Parineeti Chopra. When asked whether Govinda was worried about his image, the star said he wasn’t, as he thought that Yash Raj Films manages to present even a villain like a hero. Kill Dil will release on November 14. Posters of the movie show Govinda posing with a gun.

Following on the heels of this movie is film Happy Ending, which will release on November 21. Here, Govinda will act along with Saif Ali Khan and Ileana D’Cruz. While Govinda will play an out-of-work actor, Saif will play an aspiring script writer.

After self-productions Hatya and Ssukh, Abhinay Chakra directed by Deepankar Senapati will be Govinda’s third production. He will star in the film as a cop opposite Mrs World Richa Sharma, who will play his wife who is blind. The film also stars Ashutosh Rana, Murali Sharma, Makarand Deshpande and Harish Kumar and will be releasing sometime in late 2014.

He will also star in Jagga Jasoos with co-stars Katrina Kaif and Ranbir Kapoor, where he will play the latter’s Step-Father. The film by Anurag Basu is slated for 29 May 2015.

Next in the long list of Govinda’s starrers is Haadi Abrar’s film Afra Tafri. Govinda will act along with Suniel Shetty, Yuvika Chaudhary, Arya Babbar and Mugdha Godse.

He will also play a football coach in Avataar directed by Pahlaj Nihalani. To fit into the role, the dedicated Govinda has supposedly undergone hair transplantation surgery and lost 28 kilograms.

Mira Nair has also confirmed that Govinda will be the protagonist in her film Bengali Detective. Govinda will be starring opposite rumoured ex-flame Rani Mukerji and the film will release sometime in the middle of 2015.

Produced by Salman Khan, Govinda will also act in the remake of Subhash Ghai’s 1983 film Hero which is being directed by Nikhil Advani. He will co-star with Aditya Pancholi’s son Sooraj Pancholi and Suniel Shetty’s daughter Athiya Shetty.

Voted by users of BBC News Online in 1999 as the tenth greatest star of stage or screen of the last thousand years, no one can deny the massive influence Govinda has had on Bollywood. In his almost 30 years of acting, the 50 year old has been nominated so far for twelve Filmfare Awards; winning a Filmfare Special Award and a Filmfare Award for Best Comedian along with four Zee Cine Awards.

We are sure his groovy moves and funny bone will entertain audiences in cinemas in his comedic line ups this year and the next, beginning with Kill Dil releasing this week.