Forget Avatar, From Devdas to Slumdog Millionaire – Govinda Had Rejected These Five Famous Movies for Bizarre Reasons!
'90s superstar Govinda claimed that he was offered the lead role in James Cameron's Avatar. The revelation was made during a recent episode of Aaj Tak's Aap Ki Adalat, hosted by journalist and television personality, Rajat Sharma.
In perhaps one of the most bizarre Bollywood 'confessions' of the year, '90s superstar Govinda claimed that he was offered the lead role in James Cameron's Avatar. The revelation was made during a recent episode of Aaj Tak's Aap Ki Adalat, hosted by journalist and television personality, Rajat Sharma. In the episode, Govinda revealed a lot of information about where his career went downhill. Like his fight with his once good friend and frequent collaborator, David Dhawan. And some really popular movies that he rejected while drunk on his stardom. Govinda Reveals He Rejected James Cameron's Avatar But Suggested the Movie's Title to Him.
Avatar was one such movie that Govinda claims that he rejected, because he couldn't relate to the handicapped lead character. Also, he didn't want to have blue paint over himself. Govinda also says that he has suggested the title 'Avatar' to James Cameron and apparently, his rejection of the role angered the director.
How true is this claim, only God knows! But Govinda also mentions other movies that he had rejected which mostly are true. All those movies turned out to be huge hits, with one of them being an Oscar-winning film.
Chandni
As per certain reports, the role of Rishi Kapoor in this Yash Chopra film was first offered to Anil Kapoor, who rejected it, before it passed on to Govinda. And even Govinda was not happy with the role, because apparently, he hated playing a character who was wheelchair-ridden.
Taal
Anil Kapoor won a lot of praise for his performance as the theatre director in Subhash Ghai's musical Taal. However, Govinda was offered this role before him. This time, his aversion to taking on a secondary lead to Akshaye Khanna is what made Govinda pass on this chance. Years later, Govinda ended up taking supporting roles in Ranveer Singh's Kill Dil, Saif Ali Khan's Happy Ending and Abhishek Bachchan's Raavan. Also, he apparently was also not a huge fan of the title!
Gadar: Ek Prem Katha
Interestingly, there were also reports that Govinda was offered the lead role in Gadar: Ek Prem Katha. If true, this isn't that surprising, since Govinda had worked with director Anil Sharma, in his earlier movie, Maharaja. However, the lacklustre box office performance of Maharaja made Govinda reportedly turn down the role, and Sunny Deol was cast in the role. The rest is blockbuster history!
Devdas
Jackie Shroff had a memorable role of Chunnilal, Devdas' drunkard friend in the Sanjay Leela Bhansali film. Govinda had many a time talked about how SLB had approached him first for this role. But the actor didn't want to play second fiddle to Shah Rukh Khan, at a time, when he thought he was at the top of his game. Devdas came out in 2002 and was the highest-grossing year of the film. As for Govinda, he had four releases that year as the lead - Akhiyon Se Goli Maare, Chalo Ishq Ladaaye, Pyaar Diwana Hota Hai and Waah! Tera Kya Kehna - all tanking at the box office.
Slumdog Millionaire
The character of the game-show host in Slumdog Millionaire was another role that came into Anil Kapoor's eager lap which was rejected by Govinda. So what was his reason for rejecting this Oscar-winning film, made by Danny Boyle? Govinda had once said on this, "I was offered Slumdog Millionaire also, but I told the director to change the title since I was into politics at that time and felt that people would say ‘the slumdog has arrived’!" Interestingly, even Shah Rukh Khan was rumoured to have been offered the same role, that he passed on. Here, it made sense since Shah Rukh Khan was hosting Kaun Banega Crorepati then and the role of this devious game-host would have gone against his image.
Is it me or does Govinda's plight reminds you of Akshaye Khanna's character in Tees Maar Khan? Whoever used to handle Govinda's career those days deserves to write a book on how the actor chose his roles when Bollywood entered the 21st Century!
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 30, 2019 08:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).