Govinda

BIOGRAPHY :

Govind Arun Ahuja (born December 21, 1963 in Virar, Maharashtra India), popularly known as Govinda, is an actor in Hindi films. Starting with his debut in 1986, he has acted in over 120 Hindi films. In 2004, he joined politics, winning a parliamentary seat from Mumbai (formerly "Bombay").

Govinda was born to former actor Arun Ahuja and singer Nirmala Arun Ahuja on December 21, 1963. He studied at Annasaheb Vartak College in Vasai, Maharashtra. His elder brother Kirti Kumar is an actor and director who appeared in some of Govinda's films playing supporting roles and has directed his brother in some films most notably "Hatya" (1988). Govinda's nephew Vinay Anand is also an actor.

Govinda initially wanted to marry actress Neelam with whom he had made many films but eventually gave up and married according to his mother's choice.He married Sunita Govind Ahuja on 11 March 1987 and has two children with her. Govinda has acted in over 100 films since his debut in 1986. He has been one of the most successful comedy actors in Bollywood particularly during the 1990s. After a brief stint in politics in 2003 he is attempting to make a comeback in Bollywood since 2006.

Govinda made his film debut in the 1986 film "Ilzaam" which was a success and launched his career.He acted in a string of movies after that with mixed success. Most of the films he appeared in during the 1980s were in the action, romance or family drama genres. He was often paired opposite actress Neelam and together they appeared in hit films such as "Love 86" (1986), "Khudgarz" (1987) and his brother Kirti Kumar's directed "Hatya" (1988).

He had success with family drama films such as "Dariya Dil" (1988), "Jaise Karni Waise Bharni" (1989) and "Hum" (1991) as well as action films such as "Marte Dam Tak" (1987) and " Jung Baaz"(1989).

He worked with David Dhawan for the first time in the 1989 action film "Taaqatwar".
He then acted in 17 movies directed by David Dhawan most of which were comedy films. The most successful films during their collaboration included "Shola Aur Shabnam" (1992), "Aankhen" (1993), "Raja Babu" (1994), "Coolie No. 1" (1995), "Saajan Chale Sasural" (1996), "Hero No. 1" (1997), "Deewana Mastana" (1997), "Bade Miyan Chote Miyan" (1998), "Haseena Maan Jaayegi" (1999) and "Jodi No. 1" (2001). Dhawan and other directors frequently cast him opposite actresses such as Karishma Kapoor and Raveena Tandon during the 1990s.

Govinda played the role of a villain for the first time in his career in "Shikari" (2000). Although the movie was not a commercial success, Govinda's convincing portrayal of a sociopath murderer was critically acclaimed.

His box office draw suffered a setback in the early 2000s following a series of commercially unsuccessful films. His acting career was further affected when he contested and won the seat for Member of Parliament from Mumbai North in the 2004 parliamentary elections. He did not have any new film releases in 2004 and 2005 although some of his delayed films such as "Khullam Khulla Pyaar Karen" (2005) and his own home production "Ssukh" (2005) were released but were box office disasters.

n 2004, Govinda joined the Congress party, and was elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower House of Parliament from Mumbai with a thumping majority of beating the 5 time sitting MP by over 50000 votes.

In a run up to the polls, Govinda had announced that his agenda will be awaas (housing), prawaas (transportation), swasthya (health) and gyaan (education).

During the first ten months of his tenure as an Member of Parliament (MP), Govinda did not spend any money from his MP Local Area Development Fund of Rs. 20 million. He started utilizing his fund only when newspaper reports brought this to notice. According to the Thane district collectorate sources, Govinda committed Rs 7 to construct anganwadi, samaj mandirs and resolve drinking water problem of Vasai and Virar residents. However, work on these projects did not begin (as of August 2005), because administrative approval was being awaited. Govinda also took credit for 80% of the quadrupling of Borivli-Virar section on Western Railway (India).

During his tenure as an MP, Govinda embarrassed his party, Congress, by coming out in open to support actor Shakti Kapoor, who had been caught in an sting operation, asking for sexual favours from a television reporter posing as a Bollywood aspirant. He also opposed the ban on dance bars, which embarrassed the Congress-NCP led Democratic Front Government, which had proposed the ban.

As an MP, Govinda has been criticized for being inaccessible to the people of his constituency, especially during the terrible rains (beginning July 26, 2005) that left around 450 dead in Mumbai. After the rains, while speaking to a TV channel, Govinda claimed that he had got Rs 150 million sanctioned for his flood-hit constituency after speaking to Sonia Gandhi. However, his own party colleagues contested the claim. Mohan Adhikari, the president of Palghar Congress Unit went on record saying that "not a single paisa" had been received.

Govinda made a comeback to films in late 2006 with the comedy film "Bhagam Bhag" alongside Akshay Kumar which was a success.His first 2007 release was the huge multi-starrer "Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love". Although a box office disappointment Govinda was praised for his performance.

His latest 2007 release is the David Dhawan directed romantic comedy "Partner", which co-stars Salman Khan. The film grossed Rs.300 Million in India on its opening week, the second highest domestic opening week gross for an Indian film.

HIS MOVIES WITH SUPER STAR RAJESH KHANNA :

1) Paap Ka Anth - 1989
2) Swarg - 1990