Govinda (born Govind Arun Ahuja) is an Indian film actor, comedian and former politician, known for his work in Hindi films. He has received twelve Filmfare Awards nominations, a Filmfare Special Award, a Filmfare Award for Best Comedian, and was the recipient of four Zee Cine Awards. Early film career Govinda's debut was in Ilzaam in 1986. Govinda has since appeared in over 165 Hindi films. In June 1999, Govinda was voted the tenth greatest star of stage or screen of the last thousand years by BBC News Online users. Govinda's earlier films in the 1980s were in genres including family, drama, action, and romance. In the 1990s, he gained recognition as a comic actor after playing a mischievous young NCC cadet in the romantic movie Shola Aur Shabnam (1992) opposite the late Divya Bharti. He played leading roles in several commercially successful comedy films in the 1990s such as Aankhen (1993), Raja Babu (1994), Coolie No. 1 (1995), Hero No. 1 (1997) and Haseena Maan Jaayegi (1999). He received the Filmfare Best Comedian Award for Haseena Maan Jayegi and the Filmfare Special Award for Saajan Chale Sasural. He has successfully played dual roles in several movies including Jaan Se Pyaara (1992), Aankhen (1993), Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (1998) and Anari No.1 (1999). Apart from double roles, he has also successfully played six roles of his own family in Hadh Kar Di Aapne (2000), one being Raju and others being Raju's mom, Raju's dad, Raju's sister, Raju's grandmother and Raju's grandfather. Govinda is nicknamed 'No. 1' because of the series of films he has done ending with "No. 1" tag like Coolie No. 1, Hero No. 1, Aunty No. 1, Anari No.1, Beti No. 1 and Jodi No.1, popularly known as No. 1 (film series). Govinda is the only actor after Akshay Kumar in Bollywood who has done a series of films with a specific title. After a period of box office flops in the 2000s, his recent commercial successes have been Bhagam Bhag (2006), Partner (2007), Life Partner (2009) and Raavan (2010). In 2015, Govinda became one of the judges of Zee TV's dance-based reality show Dance India Dance Super Mom Season 2, replacing Mithun Chakraborty. The show garnered the highest TRP for any opening episode of a reality show. In addition to film acting, he was a member of the Indian National Congress Party. He was elected as the seventh Member of Parliament for the Mumbai North Constituency of Maharashtra, India in the 14th Lok Sabha elections in 2004. He defeated Ram Naik of the Bharatiya Janata Party. His constituency was succeeded by Sanjay Nirupam (also from Congress) in 2009 when Govinda chose to concentrate on his film career.
Born
Govind ArunVirar, Maharashtra, India
Occupation
Actress
Years active
1987–present
Spouse(s)
Sunita Ahuja(1987–present)
Parent
Arun Kumar AhujaNirmala Devi
Early life Govinda was born on 21 December 1963 into a Punjabi family to former actor Arun Kumar Ahuja and singer/actress Nirmala Devi. Arun Kumar Ahuja, Govinda's father, is best known for acting in Mehboob Khan's Aurat (1940). He also produced one film which yielded low returns, shortly after which he became ill. The family, living in a bungalow on Mumbai's upmarket Carter Road, moved to Virar — a northern Mumbai suburb, where Govinda was born. He is the youngest of six children and was given the pet name Chi Chi which means little finger in Punjabi, the language he spoke at home. Acting career Govinda studied at Annasaheb Vartak College in Vasai, Maharashtra graduating in commerce. His father suggested a career in film. Around this time, Govinda saw the film Disco Dancer after which he practiced for hours and circulated a promotion of himself on a VHS cassette. He was offered a job in a fertiliser commercial and an Allwyn ad. His first leading role was in Tan-Badan which was directed by his uncle Anand. Govinda started shooting for his next film Love 86 in June 1985. By mid-July, he had signed 40 others. Govinda's first released film was Ilzaam (1986), a box office success and the fifth biggest hit of 1986.
The film song "Street Dancer", which featured Govinda break dancing, became a breakthrough in his career and established him as a dancing star. He acted in a series 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 with the actress Neelam, and together they appeared in several films such as Love 86 (1986), Khudgarz (1987) and his brother Kirti Kumar's directorial, Hatya (1988). He had success with family drama films such as Dariya Dil (1988), Jeete Hain Shaan Se (1988) 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. Govinda also worked with Rajnikant and Sridevi in the film that year titled, Ghair Khanooni.
Personal life Govinda's father Arun Ahuja was an actor in the 1940s and his mother Nirmala Ahuja was also an actress as well as a singer. His brother, Kirti Kumar is an actor, producer and director. His sister, Kaamini Khanna is a writer, music director, singer, anchor and founder of 'Beauty with Astrology'. Govinda's maternal uncle Anand Singh, an assistant to director Hrishikesh Mukherjee, launched him in his film, Tan-Badan. Anand's wife's sister Sunita fell in love with Govinda during the 'Mahurat' of Tan-Badan. They got married on 11 March 1987. Their marriage was a closely guarded secret for four years. The couple have two children, a daughter Tina Ahuja and a son Yashvardhan. Tina made her Bollywood debut with Second Hand Husband in 2015. Govinda has six nephews and two nieces in the entertainment industry: actors Vinay Anand, Krushna Abhishek, Aryan, Arjun Singh, Ragini Khanna, Amit Khanna, Aarti Singh and director Janmendra Kumar Ahuja. Govinda's brother-in-law, Devendra Sharma has also acted in several Hindi films. TV actress Soumya Seth is also related to him as she's the cousin of Ragini Khanna and Krishna Abhishek as mentioned on her wikipedia's page. Govinda narrowly escaped death on 5 January 1994 while traveling to a studio for the shooting of Khuddar. The actor's car collided with another car, resulting in him sustaining injuries to his head. Though bleeding profusely, Govinda did not cancel the shooting. After visiting a doctor, he shot for the film until midnight. In 2004, Govinda entered politics. He joined Indian National Congress and became a Lok Sabha member from Mumbai by defeating 5 time sitting Member of Parliament former Petroleum Minister Ram Naik by over 50,000 votes. His election agenda was focused on prawaas (transportation), swasthya (health) and gyaan (education). He faced several criticisms as an MP. It was believed by some that Govinda was unapproachable for common people in his constituency that too at the time when Mumbai city was facing a calamity caused by heavy rains. In 2008, he decided to quit politics to focus on his career in Bollywood.