Govinda on fallout with David Dhawan: 'He said I've started asking too many questions, asked me to do small roles'

Right from Taqatwar in 1989 to Do Knot Disturb in 2009, actor Govinda and director David Dhawan collaborated for 18 films together. But there came a time when they stopped working together after an apparent fallout. What went wrong between them? Back in 2018, when the actor was on the show Aap Ki Adalat, he revealed, “When I completed 17 films with him, I told him the subject of _Chashme Baddoor_ and he started the film with Rishi Kapoor. And when he was shooting the film, I called him and he said, ‘Tu sun toh mein kaise film bana raha hoon.Then I said, ‘Tu mujhe kehta toh - subject bhi utha lia.” He added, “After I left politics, I told my secretary to keep the phone speaker on, so that I could listen to what he (David Dhawan) was saying. I heard David saying, ‘Chi-Chi (Govinda’s nickname) is questioning a lot.’ He was telling my secretary, ‘I do not want to work with Govinda anymore. Tell him to do some small bit roles.’ This shocked me and I decided never to work with him. After 4-5 months, I again rang him up just to find out if he would give me a guest appearance in his film. He then never rang me back. I am revealing this in public after so many years. I think he is under somebody’s influence. I do not think he is that same David Dhawan who I used to know.” A possible reunion? Speaking to the Bombay Times, Govinda said, “I am glad people still feel that we should work together. _Yeh unka pyaar ha_i. (This is there love) our patch-up had already happened. This was our second meeting. It was a Diwali bash where we ate good food and had a great time. We don’t believe in raking up the past. Why mull over it? That’s not necessary. Let bygones be bygones. Filmy talk wasn’t a priority, but when that happened, we only spoke about the happy memories and those were plenty.” They both met at Ramesh Taurani’s Diwali party.