Birthday Special Interview: YAAD AAYA WOH CHI CHI BHAYA KE SAATH WOH MERI AAKHRI INTERVIEW ( UNKE JANAM DIN PAR ).... By Ali Peter John

He has lost more than half his weight. He has just one full meal in 24 hours, after sunset, nothing before that and nothing after that. He has made his intentio upns upclear about making a comeback - Ali Peter John

He wants to make filmmakers and the media believe that Govinda is still around and he means business. There are filmmakers who are willing to take him seriously.

There are a number of young directors who had grown up watching him as an actor when he was at his best who are also willing to work him.

Govinda has done hundred and forty eight films as a leading man, films which have done well only because they had Govinda in them, more than a hundred of them super hits, others average and just two or may be one which have failed to make a mark.

Govinda created his own school of acting. He is an all-rounder, an actor who can take on any role and give it his own touch.

For more than twenty-four years Govinda has been a household name when it comes to entertainment in films at its best.

He has stars who are his admirers like Rajinikanth the King of the south, Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Riteish Deshmukh who says, ”There is only one Govinda”.

But Govinda is human, vulnerable and very sensitive. He has made mistakes which he never realized when he made them.

He has his own ways of realizing the importance of dealing with his problems. He has preached and practiced his own kinds of lessons which have had many takers.

He found it difficult to say no to Sonia Gandhi when she asked him to contest the elections as the candidate of the Congress Party to take on a political giant like Ram Naik who had a clean image and had never lost an election.

He took the world of politics by surprise when he trounced the giant with a thumping majority.

Politics took him away from films for quite some time and many felt his career in films had come to a stand still.

He quit politics and came back to his karmabhoomi (the Mumbai film industry). He recently proved that he was still a wanted star when he was a part of the entertainers at the recent IIFA in Tampa Bay in America. He finds some time to take a look at his career…

How would you describe your career at this stage?

All I can say is that I have left the past behind me, however great and glorious it was. I don’t even want to remember it.

I am going to start all over again and the world will see a new Govinda, that is my promise. It is they who have given me up, I haven’t, and I will show the world that there are still so many Govindas alive in me.

How is it going to be starting all over again?

I know it will be a little difficult, a little uneasy. I sometimes wonder how it would be because so much has changed. But I have some good people who have faith in me and will stand by me.

Men like David Dhawan with whom I have given eighteen hits. All I need is some moral support and some very difficult roles which can show what I could not during all the years I was only being considered a naachne gaane wala hero.

Are the offers coming in?

People have started realizing that Govinda mein abhi bhi bahut jaan hai. The word has spread and I am being offered films and I have started getting that much wanted feeling of being loved and wanted.

It has given me the kind of strength an actor who has gone through a bad patch needs. I have taken on some offers even though I have still to regain all that ground I have lost. I hope things start getting better for me.

Have some of the film makers who once made big films with you and depended on you also came forward to sign you?

You will come to know soon. I was thrilled that critics and film makers of the new generation love my work and praise me for my acting and perfect comic timing.

It is gestures like these that give me the inspiration to do better work now. All I know is that Govinda has been accepted and it is time to take my career seriously.

What is the biggest compliment you have received recently?

There have been some very good directors and actors who have been telling me how they miss me on the screen.

I have received compliments from some of the best talent in the industry which has given me all the inspiration to start a new life as an actor.

How do you see your future in these changing times?

The fact that some filmmakers who are half my age are coming up to me and telling me what a great actor I am and some of them are even signing me for their films is reason enough for me to stop worrying and make plans for a new future.

I am waiting for the right directors to offer me some good roles. I have matured as an actor and can play any role like only a very good actor can.

That is the kind of confidence I have today and I am sure no one can take my confidence away.