Govinda could have been the biggest superstar, says Rohit Shetty: ‘For 10 years he gave blockbusters but…’

Rohit Shetty spoke about Govinda and David Dhawan in a new interview. The filmmaker said the actor and director duo gave back-to-back hit films in Bollywood for a decade. Praising Govinda, Rohit said, the actor would have been the ‘the biggest superstar’ if he was given ‘his due’. Govinda had made his Bollywood debut with the 1986 film Ilzaam, and has featured in films like Coolie No 1 and Raja Babu since. Also read: Pakistani actor Fahad Mustafa rushes to touch Govinda’s feet at event, says ‘I started acting because of sir’. Watch

Rohit Shetty has been busy promoting his upcoming film Cirkus. During a segment in a recent interview, the filmmaker was asked to guess the highest grosser of 1993, when he promptly responded, and said, “Aankhen.” The film featured Govinda with Chunky Pandey and was directed by David Dhawan. Rohit then spoke about the film, and other movies of Govinda, and lauded him for giving blockbusters consistently for years. Rohit added that despite his ‘back-to-back’ hit films, Govinda ‘didn’t get his due’ in Bollywood.

“For 10 years, that guy (Govinda) gave blockbusters. He and David Dhawan gave Shola Aur Shabnam, Aankhen, Raja Babu, Jodi No 1, Coolie No 1, and Haseena Maan Jaayegi, that was back-to-back. I think he didn’t get his due otherwise he would have been the biggest superstar. Ab social media hai, ek chalti hai toh sab chilate hai. Back-to-back for ten years both (Govinda and David Dhawan) had given hits,” Rohit told Pinkvilla.

During the 1980s, Govinda acted in family, drama, action and romantic films. Later, he reinvented himself as a comedy hero in the 90s. Some of his hit comedy films include Aankhen (1993), Raja Babu (1994), Coolie No. 1 (1995), Hero No. 1 (1997), Deewana Mastana (1997), Dulhe Raja (1998), Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (1998), Anari No.1 (1999) and Jodi No. 1 (2001). In the 2000s, he acted in films like Bhagam Bhag (2006), Partner (2007), Life Partner (2009). He was also seen an judge on Dance India Dance Super Mom Season 2 in 2015.

Meanwhile, Rohit’s upcoming film Cirkus is set to be released on December 23. One of the most-anticipated movies of the year, it stars Ranveer Singh, Jacqueline Fernandez, Pooja Hegde, Varun Sharma, Tiku Talsania, Johnny Lever, Sanjay Mishra and Vrajesh Hirjee, among others. Deepika Padukone also features in a dance number in the film. A few days ago, the Cirkus trailer was released.