Govinda on camps in Bollywood : Unlike earlier, these days 4-5 people dictate the business; some of my films also didn’t get proper release

Govinda says actors are finding it difficult to survive in Bollywood on the basis of merit. However, he is happy that times are slowly changing given the digital boom.

While struggles shape us better, it’s how we deal with them that define us, feels Govinda. Amid this whole outsider vs insider debate raging on, the actor points that despite his parents — Nirmala Devi and Arun Kumar Ahuja — being actors, he went through his own share of struggle.

“There was a gap of 33 years between them leaving the film industry and me becoming an actor at 21. So by the time I entered the industry, many new producers had come who didn’t know much about my lineage. I had to wait for hours to meet them. I understood why they’d talk or behave in a certain way but never let it come in between me and my art,” he recounts. 

Be it someone from within the industry or outside, many feel it’s wrong to assume that theirs was the most difficult journey than others.

Though Govinda tasted success quite early on in his career, he confesses that many thought he wouldn’t be able to make it at all. “I’ve been told this on my face. But I knew even the likes of Raj Kapoor ji, Jeetendra ji, Amitabh Bachchan ji, Vinod Khanna ji and Rajesh Khanna ji went through a lot, too. In this industry, you need to have the right perspective. Either you work hard, or pay heed to what people say about you,” he asserts, adding that even when he joined politics, “People said it went against the actor within me. But that’s not correct because after that, I did films that worked.”

Being a part of an industry with cut-throat competition, the actors is aware that one can’t let success get to their head. He explains, “Success at times makes you harsh and doesn’t let you progress. From my experience, I can say that having a graceful approach helps. Film is a form of art and somewhere we’ve turned it into a business. Artistes are human beings, not products. Accept those who have merit. This will also help those who aren’t as talented, and they’ll work harder.” 

One can’t deny the existence of camps and coteries in the film industry, and Govinda, too, agrees that Bollywood is now being dictated by a handful of people.

“Earlier whoever was talented, got work. Every film would get equal opportunity in theatres. But now, there are four or five people who dictate the whole business. They decide if they want to let films of those who aren’t close to them, release properly or not. Some of my good films also didn’t get the right kind of release. But, things are changing now,” he says.

Amid the ongoing nepotism debate, ask him what stand he takes when it comes to his daughter Tina Ahuja, who is also a part of the film industry. “I’ve never spoken much about her. Had I done that, hopefully things would have been different. She’s charting her own path and will rise whenever her time comes,” concludes the actor.